or  THE  \ 

(fUNIVSESITY 


JKIll'Dl    ASIIMTX 


JEHUDI    ASHMUN, 


COLONIAL  AGENT  IN  LIBERIA. 


WITH 


AN 


CONTAINING 


EXTRACTS    FEOM   HIS   JOURNAL   AND   OTHER  WRITINGS;   WITH  A   BRIEF 
SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE    OF   THE    REV.   LOTT    CARY. 


BY  RALPH  RANDOLPH  GURLEY. 


NEW-YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  LEAVITT,  LORD  &  CO.  182  BROADWAY. 

BOSTON: 
CROCKER  &  BREWSTER,  47  WASHINGTON  STREET, 


IV  CONTENTS. 

fession— Letter  from  Bishop  Moore— Application  for  Orders— Fluctuation 
of  purposes — Embarrassed  State  of  the  Repertory. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Writes  the  Life  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Bacon— Facts  in  the  History  of  the  Col- 
onization Society,  connected  with  this  Work — Report  of  Messrs.  Mills 
and  Burgess — Law  concerning  recaptured  Africans — Departure  of  the 
Elizabeth — Outline  of  the  Life  and  Death  of  Mr.  Bacon — Circumstances 
and  manner  in  which  this  Memoir  was  composed — Differences  touching 
the  Repertory— Secret  Griefs— High  and  holy  Purposes  of  Ashrnun. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Salutary  lessons  of  Providence — Slavery — Origin — Slave  Trade — Slavery  in 
the  United  States — Federal  Constitution  and  views  of  its  Frameis — Fa- 
vorable to  the  general  influence  of  Liberty — Spirit  of  the  Reformation — 
Growth  of  the  spirit  of  humanity  towards  the  colored  race — Foremost 
stand  of  the  Quakers  in  the  African  cause — Origin  of  African  Coloniza- 
tion— Of  the  American  Colonization  Society— Views  of  its  Founders — 
Early  Proceedings — First  Agents  and  Expedition — Purchase  of  Territory 
by  Captain  Stockton  and  Dr.  Ayres  at  Cape  Montserado — Removal  ol 
Colonists  thither. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Mr.  Ashrnun  sails  for  Africa— Causes  and  Measures  which  led  to  it,  inclu- 
ding Rev.  William  Meade's  visit  to  Georgia — Recaptured  Africans  to  bt 
sent  from  there — Personal  Embarrassments — Attends  to  the  outfit  ol  the 
Strong — Joined  at  Baltimore  by  Mrs.  Ashmun — Incidents  of  the  Voyage — 
System  of  operations  commenced  on  his  arrival  at  the  Colony — Perilous 
condition  of  the  Strong  before  landing  of  her  passengers — Conference 
with  some  of  the  Principal  Chiefs — Lurking  enmity  of  the  Natives — 
Preparations  for  Defence — War — Noble  courage  and  conduct — Successful 
repulse  of  the  banded  forces  of  ihe  Natives — Arrival  of  the  British  Colo- 
nial Schooner  Prince  Regent— Generous  aid  of  her  Commander  and 
Major  Lain ^ — Peace — Tribute  to  Ashmun. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Sickness — Nol.lt-?  devolion  of  Midshipman  Gordon  and  his  associates — Illness 
of  Aslituun— Ai  I  r  did  ;v<l  by  a  Colombian  Schooner — Want  ol' Supplies — 
Restoration  of  Captive  Children — Visit  of  Ihe  Cyanne — Knurls  of  Capt. 
Spence  and  crew — Dr.  Dix,  Mr.  Richard  Seatori — Visit  of  Mr.  Ashmun 
to  Settra  Kroo  —  Arrival  of  Dr.  Ayres — Mr.  Ashmun's  earnest  request  for 
Teachers— Incident— His  Thoughts  on  Trade— Drafts  from  Fayal — 
Stands  not  well  in  the  Public  Confidence — Receives  little  countenance 
w  the  Government  or  Society — His  manly  Fortitude — Confidence  in 


CONTENTS.  Y 

Truth — Terms  on  which  he  will  remain  in  Africa  sent  to  the  Board — 
State  and  Prospects  of  the  Colony. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Perplexity  and  uncertainty  of  his  affairs — Rules  of  Conduct — Private  Jour- 
nal— Industry  and  Energy  in  his  Studies — -Religious  Character — Extracts 
touching  this  Subject — Sense  of  Injustice  done  him — Still  neglected — 
Return  of  Dr.  Ayres — Proposition  to  the  Board — Discontent  of  the  Set- 
tlers— Mutiny— Firmness  and  Decision  of  Ashmun— Arrival  of  the  Cy- 
rus— Spirit  of  Revolt — Want  of  Supplies — Address  of  Mr.  Ashmun  to 
the  Colonists — Their  continued  Indolence  and  Disaffection — Writes  to  the 
Board— Feeble  Health— Determines  to  visit  the  Cape  De  Verds— Hem- 
orrhage when  about  to  embark — Expects  to  die — Declaration  of  Integ- 
rity. 

CHAPTER  X. 

Lowest  Point  of  his  Depression — Gradual  Recovery  of  Strength — Journal  at 
Bissao  and  the  Cape  De  Yerds — Remonstrance  of  the  Colonists  to  the 
Board — Appropriation  for  the  Benefit  of  Ashmun — The  Board  Address 
the  Colonists—  Charges  sent  from  the  Colony  against  Ashmun — Distrust 
of  his  Character — Uncertain  Affairs — Special  Agent  sent  to  the  Colony. 

CHAPTER  XL 

Writer's  Interview  with  Mr.  Ashmun  at  the  Cape  De  Yerds — Impressions  of 
his  Character — He  resolves  to  return  to  the  Colony — Passage — Investiga- 
tions into  charges  against  him  at  the  Colony— All  false — Causes  of  the 
Moral  and  Political  Disorders  there — Organization  of  the  Government — 
Adoption  of  it  by  the  Settlers — Restoration  of  order  and  mutual  confi- 
dence— Mr.  Ashmun  is  empowered  as  Agent  until  report  is  made  to  the 
Government  and  Society. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Reluctance  of  men  to  abandon  old,  even  if  erroneous,  opinions — Report  of 
the  Special  Agent  unfavorably  received — Mr.  Ashmun  permitted  to  try 
the  New  Form  of  Government  as  an  experiment — Despatches  showing  its 
utility — Negotiations  with  the  Bassa  Chiefs— Ability  exhibited  by  Mr. 
Ashmun  in  his  communications  to  the  Managers — Favorable  Report  of  a 
Committee  on  his  Despatches — His  Situation — His  Conduct — -first,  in  re- 
spect to  himself,  second,  to  the  Colony,  and  third,  to  the  Board  of  Mana- 
gers— Arrival  of  the  Hunter — Negotiations  for  the  St  Paul's  Territory — 
His  remarks  touching  his  connexion  with  the  Repertory — Proceedings  of 
the  Board  in  relation  to  the  New  Form  of  Government  and  Mr.  Ash- 
mun's  Character — Adoption  of  the  former — Vindication  of  the  latter — 
Mr.  Ashmun 's  position. 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

His  circumstances  in  the  Colony— Influence  upon  the  settlers— Anticipation 
of  an  early  death — His  principles — Purposes — Talents  for  business— At- 
tention to  the  poor  and  afflicted — Sickness  among  the  Hunter's  emigrant;1 
— Requests  a  physician — Survey  of  the  St.  Paul's  purchase — Thinks  oi 
visiting  the  U.  States — Fourth  of  July  celebration — Slave  trade — Exami- 
nation of  the  coast  from  Cape  Mount  to  Trade  Town — Piracy — Destruction 
of  slave  factories— Condition  of  the  Colony  at  the  close  of  1825— Mr.  Ash- 
mun's  opinion  of  the  importance  of  aid  from  the  national  government — 
The  writer's  thoughts  o»  this  subject. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  doctrine  of  Divine  Providence — Mr.  Ashmun's  belief  in  it — Effect  of  his 
trials  on  his  character — Activity  and  industry — Brief  extracts  from  his  pri- 
vate Journal — His  humility  and  its  effects  upon  his  opinion  of  himself. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Managers  of  Charitable  Institutions — Of  the  Colonization  Society — Mr. 
Ashmun  at  the  head  of  a  prosperous  Colony — His  desire  for  more  emi- 
grants— For  regular  commercial  intercourse  with  America — His  opinion 
of  assistants — Of  a  Board  of  Agents — Expedition  by  the  Vine — By  the 
Norfolk — Dr.  Peace's  arrival— Baptist  Mission— Rev.  Horace  Sessions- 
Rev.  Calvin  Holton — Settlements  on  the  St.  Paul's  and  Stockton  Creek — 
Agency  House  at  Caldvvell  struck  by  lightning — Expedition  against  Trade 
Town — Effect  in  suppressing  the  Slave  Trade — Letter  to  Dr.  Blumhardt— 
Indisposition  of  Mr.  Ashinun— Absence  of  Dr.  Peaco— Cape  Mount 
Trade— Leases  of  Land — Tax  for  support  of  schools— Piracy — Necessity 
for  a  Sloop  of  War — Line  of  Packets — Want  of  Schools — Annual  Elec- 
tion and  firmness  of  Ashmun — Panic  among  the  Settlers— Robbery  oi 
Bassa  People — Negotiations  with  Cape  Mount  Chiefs — Acquisition  of 
Territory— Extract  from  last  Letter  of  Mr.  Ashmun  in  1826. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Mr.  Ashmun's  last  entire  year  of  labor — Reputation — Growth  of  the  Society- 
Visit  of  the  Shark— Capt.  Norris— Arrival  of  the  Doris— Of  the  Norfolk- 
Disappointed  purpose  of  Mr.  Ashmun  to  visit  the  United  States — Pre- 
parations for  Emigrants — Necessity  of  throwing  Emigrants  upon  their 
efforts — Injury  to  the  Colonial  Schooner — Illness  of  Mr.  Ashmun — Visit 
to  Sierra  Leone  and  the  Pongas — Description  of  that  River  and  Country — 
Correspondence  with  Sir  Neil  Campbell— Treaty  of  Peace  with  Trade 
Town — War  between  the  Chief  of  Sesters  and  his  neighbor  of  Trade 
Town— Peace — Infirmary  of  Invalids— Schools— Method  of  subsisting 
Emigrants  in  Africa — Views  in  regard  to  the  Unitod  States1  Agency  for 


CONTENTS.  VII 

recaptured  Africans— Visit  of  the  Ontario— Captain  Nicolson— Swiss 
Missionaries — Government  of  the  Colony — Condition  of  the  People — 
Accessions  of  Territory — Plan  of  Mr.  Ashmun  for  extending  Coloniza- 
tion among  the  Natives — Policy  towards  them — Religious  state  of  the 
Colony — Address  of  Colonists — Ashmun's  ardour  in  pursuit  of  intellectual 
and  moral  improvement — Melancholy  thoughts — Religious  feelings  and 
liopes. 

CHAPTER  XVII, 

Arrival  at  Liberia  of  the  Doris,  Randolph,  and  Nautilus — Visit  of  Mr. 
Ashmun  to  the  Colonial  Factories — His  excessive  labors,  Sickness,  Em- 
barkation for  the  United  States— Arrival  at  St.  Bartholemews— Compelled 
to  stop  there — Visits  St.  Christophers — Letter  to  his  Parents — Arrival  at 
New  Haven — Decline — Death — Funeral — Conclusion. 


APPENDIX. 

Ne.  1.  Extracts  from  the  Early  Diary  of  Mr.  Ashmun.          • 

No.  2.  Resolutions  of  the  Maine  Society  School. 

No.  3.  Papers  touching  the  importance  of  Missionary  Efforts  in  Africa. 

No.  4.  Notes  on  Trade. 

No.  5.  Supposed  Error. 

No.  6.  Subjects  reported  on  by  the  Special  Agent — Extracts  from  the  Colonial 
Journal — Remarks  on  the  most  economical  mode  of  subsisting  the  Col- 
ony— On  Temperance. 

No.  7.  Liberia  Farmer. 

No.  8.  Letter  to  Rev.  Dr.  Blumhardt. 

No.  9.  Ashmun's  Vindication  of  his  conduct  in  destroying  the  Slave  Factories. 

No.  10.  Letters  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall  and  Ex-President  Madison,  on 
African  Colonization. 

No.  11.  Miscellaneous  Papers  of  Ashmun,  including — What  rules  are  to  be  ob- 
served to  improve  the  gift  of  prayer — Advantages  of  Devotion — Divine 
Providence — The  Prophecy  of  Malachi — The  Social  Affections — Punish- 
ment of  Murder  by  Death — Religious  Principles — Dreams — History  of 
oui's  self— Qualifications  of  an  Agent  for  Liberia — Notes  on  Africa — 
Visit  to  Peter  Bromley's — Colonial  Notices — Sketches  of  Character — 
Letter  to  the  Church  in  Champlain — Letter  to  his  Younger  Brothers — 

ALSO, 
SKETCH  of  the  Life  of  the  Rev.  LOTT  GARY. 


U&I7EBSITY 


LIFE   OF  ASHMUN. 


CHAPTER   I. 


IN  an  age,  like  this,  when  men  are  remarkably  occupied  with 
schemes  of  private  enterprise,  and  large  plans  for  human  im- 
provement, the  Biography  of  an  individual  will  be  well  nigh 
unnoticed,  unless  it  exhibit  in  the  subject  of  it,  evidences  of  ex- 
traordinary intellect  or  illustrious  virtue.  Nor  is  it  to  be  ex- 
pected or  desired  that  public  attention  should  be  directed  to 
ordinary  merit,  while  there  are  great  and  shining  examples 
upon  which  it  may  be  fixed.  Life  is  too  short  to  be  wasted 
upon  trifles ;  and  while  the  active  spirit  of  the  times  is  unfa- 
vourable to  the  calm  and  steady  contemplation  of  individual 
character,  the  more  important  it  is,  that  such  character,  if  held 
up  for  imitation,  should  possess  rare  worth  and  brightness. 

The  following  pages  are  submitted  to  the  Public  without  an 
apology,  because  the  individual  to  whom  they  relate,  not  in 
the  writer's  opinion  only,  but  in  the  judgment  of  the  Christian 
community,  at  least,  both  of  this  and  other  countries,  deserves 
an  extended  memorial,  The  Author,  however,  cannot  enter 

3 


18  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

upon  his  work,  without  humbly  invoking  the  aid  of  that  Di- 
vine Being,  who,  while  He  sometimes  kindles  in  human  souls 
the  pure  flame  of  His  own  spirit,  that  they  may  bless  and  guide 
mankind,  can  alone  preserve  and  extend  the  influence  and 
light  of  their  example  to  the  remotest  generations  of  the 
world. 

JEHUDI  ASHMUN  was  born  in  the  town  of  Champlain,  New 
York,  on  the  21st  of  April,  1794.  He  was  the  second  son,  and 
third  child  in  a  family  of  ten  children.  His  father,  Samuel 
Ashmun,  Esq.  married  early  in  life,  and  soon  after,  settled  in 
Champlain,  then  a  wilderness ;  and  though  exposed  to  nume- 
rous inconveniences  and  hardships,  his  industry  and  enter- 
prise soon  placed  him  in  circumstances  of  independence,  while 
his  intelligence  and  moral  worth  secured  for  him  the  confi- 
dence of  his  fellow-citizens,  among  whom,  for  many  years,  he 
sustained  the  office  of  a  Justice  of  the  Peace.  The  childhood 
of  young  Ashmun  was  distinguished  by  a  thoughtful  and  re- 
served manner,  intense  application  to  books,  reliance  upon  his 
own  powers,  and  ambition  to  excel  in  all  his  studies.*  Every 
leisure  hour  was  improved ;  he  early  accustomed  himself  to 
keep  a  Journal,  and  would  sometimes  omit  to  take  his  meals, 
that  he  might  have  opportunity  to  record  in  it,  such  thoughts 
or  events  as  he  deemed  worthy  of  remembrance.  The  father 
of  Ashmun,  considering  the  number  of  his  family  and  his  mo- 
derate means,  designed  to  grant  to  his  children  those  literary 
advantages  only,  which  were  afforded  by  the  common  schools 
of  the  country,  in  expectation  that  their  lives  would  be  devoted 

"The  following  anecdote  is  related  of  him:  While  a  schoolboy,  a  premium 
was  offered  by  his  instructor,  for  the  best  composition  which  should  be  fur- 
nished in  the  school.  Many  of  the  pupils  were  older  than  himself,  and  the 
time  allowed  to  prepare  the  pieces  was  short.  So  confident  was  he,  however, 
of  success,  that  he  promised  his  mother,  to  bring  to  her  a  certificate  of  his  tri- 
umph. When  his  elder  brother  was  announced  as  entitled  to  the  reward,  Je- 
hudi  exclaimed,  "  you  mean  me,  master ! "  And  instead  of  being  disturbed  by 
the  smiles  of  his  fellow-pupils,  he  still  insisted  that  his  opinion  was  correct, 
and  wrote  a  certificate  for  himself,  and  carried  it  home  to  his  mother. 


LIFE    OP    ASITMUN.  19 

to  agricultural  pursuits;  but  the  love  of  knowledge  cherished 
by  the  subject  of  this  Memoir,  and  his  importunities  that  he 
might  be  allowed  to  gratify  it,  finally  induced  his  parents  to  con- 
sent that  he  should  seek  a  liberal  education,  provided  reliance 
was  placed  mainly  upon  his  own  exertions  to  defray  the  ex- 
pense. This  condition  was  cheerfully  accepted,  and  at  the  age 
of  14,  he  commenced  his  studies,  in  preparation  for  College,  un- 
der the  tuition  of  the  Rev.  Amos  Pettingill,  the  worthy  Minister 
of  his  native  place,  with  whom  he  made  rapid  progress,  and 
strengthened  the  confidence  of  his  friends  in  his  final  success. 
At  this  time  he  appears  to  have  had  no  fixed  religious  prin- 
ciples, and  occasionally  to  have  indulged  doubts  of  the  truth 
of  Christianity.  The  example  of  pious  parents,  and  particu- 
larly the  tender  admonitions  of  his  mother,  had  deeply  affected 
him  at  the  early  age  of  six  years,  and  the  impressions  then 
made  were  never  entirely  effaced;  yet  it  was  not  until  his 
17th  year,  that  Divine  Truth  exerted,  in  his  own  judgment, 
a  regenerating  influence  on  his  mind.  The  date  of  this  event 
is  recorded  in  his  Journal,  the  26th  of  June,  1810.  Having 
been  absent  from  home,  during  most  of  the  preceding  winter, 
and  in  the  society  of  irreligious  persons,  his  chief  desire  and 
purpose  had  been,  as  he  expressed  them,  "to  secure  the  es- 
1  teem  of  his  fellow-beings  and  feed  on  earthly  pleasures." — 
The  effect  of  cherished  imaginations  of  future  distinction  and 
happiness  in  the  world,  during  this  brief  period,  contributed 
more  in  his  opinion,  to  harden  his  heart  against  God,  than 
two  years  of  previous  impenitence.  The  most  solemn  truths, 
the  kindest  parental  exhortations  had  lost  their  power  to  move 
him.  While  he  was  thus  insensible  to  the  claims  of  the  Al- 
mighty upon  his  affections  and  his  services,  the  attention  of  the 
people  of  his  native  village  was  particularly  turned  to  religion, 
and  a  youth  of  his  acquaintance  had  been  led  to  devote  him- 
self to  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer.  A  remark  of  this  youth, 
at  a  social  prayer-meeting,  expressive  of  his  own  happiness 
as  a  child  of  God,  appears  first  to  have  arrested  the  attention, 


20  LIFE    OF    ASHAIUN. 

and  excited  strongly  the  feelings  of  Ashimm.     An  awful  dark 
ness  enveloped  him,  and  he  was  overwhelmed  in  guilt  and 
misery.     But  after  a  short  season  he  was  enabled,  as  he  ever 
afterwards  believed,  to  trust  in  the  Saviour,  and  to  consecrate 
himself  wholly  and  forever  to  His  service. 

At  the  commencement  of  his  studies  in  the  spring  of  1810, 
a  consciousness  that  he  was  morally  unqualified  for  the  Cleri- 
cal profession,  and  doubts  of  obtaining  an  education  suffi- 
ciently extensive  for  that  of  the  Law,  had  strongly  inclined 
him  to  a  Medical  course ;  but  the  radical  change  now  expe- 
rienced in  his  character,  determined  him  to  direct  all  his  ef- 
forts to  a  preparation  for  the  Christian  Ministry.  In  July  of 
this  year,  he  became  a  member  of  the  church  in  Champlain, 
and  for  several  months  after,  so  vivid  were  his  impressions 
of  religious  truth,  that  he  was  impelled  to  exhibit  them  to 
others,  imagining  that  they  must  even  feel,  as  he  felt,  their  im- 
portance ;  and  so  emboldened  was  he  in  his  zeal,  as  not  only 
to  expostulate  with  the  impenitent,  and  dispute  with  those  of 
opposite  sentiments,  but  even  to  remonstrate  with  his  Pastor 
upon  the  necessity  of  a  more  earnest  and  active  discharge  of 
the  duties  of  his  office.  Thus  early  was  manifested  that  re- 
solute enthusiasm  which  continued  through  life  to  be  one  of 
the  most  striking  traits  of  his  character.  In  a  Journal  penned 
by  Mr.  Ashmun  in  1823,  we  find  the  following  allusion  to  the 
change  which  occurred  in  his  purposes  at  this  period  of  his 
life:  "My  views  (when  I  commenced  study)  were,  from  the 
1  narrowness  of  my  circumstances,  moderate  enough.  But  I 
1  was  assiduous  and  always  preferred  my  books  to  my  sports ; 
£  and  found  as  I  proceeded,  my  ambition  kindle  and  my  in- 
'  tentions  enlarge.  An  event  which  followed  in  a  few  months, 
(  changed  entirely  the  direction  of  my  studies,  and  served  to 
{  fix  for  many  years,  every  vacillating  purpose.  My  atten- 
{ tion  was,  in  June,  1810,  wholly  turned  to  the  interests  of 
1  futurity.  The  rewards  of  fame,  and  conscious  superiority 
1  of  any  intellectual  or  personal  endowments,  which  I  might 


LIFE    OP   ASHMUN.  21 

f  come  to  possess,  were  too  light  in  the  balance,  to  weigh 
1  down,  in  my  estimation,  the  everlasting  well-being  of  myself 
1  or  others.  Thus  predisposed  to  the  profession  of  Divinity, 
c  I  adopted,  with  little  hesitancy,  the  advice  of  my  friends  to 
{  make  it  the  object  of  my  pursuit." 

This  revolution  in  his  moral  character,  instead  of  dimin- 
ishing, increased  the  energy  of  his  exertions  to  acquire  know- 
ledge, and  prepare  himself  for  public  usefulness.  He  became 
the  more  anxious  to  obtain  all  the  advantages  of  a  collegiate 
education.  He  distinguished  himself  as  a  punctual  and  ac- 
tive member  of  a  Debating  Society,  and  referred  in  after  life, 
to  the  exercises  and  discipline  of  this  Institution,  as  having 
contributed  greatly  to  his  success  and  influence  in  College. 

•^In  1811,  (he  observes  in  the  Journal  from  which  we  have 
1  already  quoted)  I  rejected  an  offer  to  facilitate  my  prepara- 
1  tion  for  the  Bar,  which  I  had  reason  to  believe  was  advan- 
1  tageous.  This  was  in  Troy;  and  I  believe  that,  at  that 
4  time,  no  offer  of  emolument,  or  of  earthly  distinction,  would 
1  have  seduced  me  from  my  purpose."  The  following  letter, 
addressed  to  a  gentleman  of  Castleton,  Vermont,  illustrates 
his  well-combined  humility,  self-reliance,  and  good  judgment 
at  this  early  period  of  his  life : — 

"TROY,  JULY  22nd,   1811. 

'  DEAR  SIR: — On  the  4th  of  July,  after  having, written  to 
c  you  from  Carver's,  I  was  carried  to  Paulet,  where  I  stayed 

I  until  the  next  day,  and  arrived  here  on  Saturday.     A  stran- 
c  ger,  unrecommended  to  any  person,  and  unacquainted  with 
<  every  person  in  town,  with  but  a  few  shillings  in  my  pock- 
£  et,  and  unpossessed  of  any  lucrative  trade  or  other  faculty, 

I 1  began  to  feel  the  force  of  poverty ;  yet  was  persuaded,  that 
{ if  I  trusted  in  Him  in  whom  I  ought  to  trust,  I  should  be 
1  disposed  of  in  the  best  manner  with  all  my  spiritual  and 
'  temporal  concerns.     Should  I  fail  to  obtain  employment  or 
1  be  reduced  to  abject  circumstances.  I  knew  I  ought  to  pos- 


22  LIFE   OP   ASHMUN. 

c  sess  faith  to  be  made  better,  and  turn  my  affections  to 
c  another  world.  But  I  found  it  much  easier  to  commend  the 
c  patience  of  others  in  circumstances  of  necessity,  and  imagine 
{  a  temper  of  mind  which  they  should  possess,  than  to  support 
( these  in  my  own  case.  However,  after  sustaining  repeated 

*  negatives,  every  one  increasing  my  anxiety,  I  providentially 
'  applied  at  the  place  where  I  have  since  resided,  which  is  the 

*  only  place  in  Troy  or  Albany,  where,  to  my  present  know- 

*  ledge,  I  could  have  found  a  support  in  any  decent  employ- 
'  ment.     The  gentleman  with  whom  I  am,  is  an  Attorney, 
1  the  principal  Justice  of  the  village ;  was  educated  at  Middle- 

*  bury;  has  a  very  small  family,  a  growing  fortune,  and  treats 
{  me  with  the  greatest  respect.    A  small  part  of  my  time  is  em- 
c  ployed  in  assisting  him  among  his  papers,  the  rest  I  devote 
1  to  study  and  reading.    He  finds  me  every  thing,  clothing 
1  excepted.     He  appears  well  satisfied  with  me,  and  offers  to 
'  instruct  me  in  study  and  maintain  me  on  the  present  terms 
c  for  three  years;  provided  I  will  turn  my  views  to  the  Law, 
c  which  without  opposing  my  whole  inclination  and  violating 
c  what  I  deem  to  be  duty,  I  cannot  assent  to.     Weak  and  un- 
c  worthy  as  I  am,  I  feel,  or  trust  I  wish  to  feel,  a  desire  to  be 
c  made  instrumental  in  promoting  the  best,  the  greatest,  and 

*  final  good  of  my  fellow-beings,  and  to  devote  my  life  wholly 

*  to  the  immediate  service  of  God.     This  I  judge  myself  not 
'  sufficiently  qualified  to  do,  (besides  moral  defects,  which  fre- 
1  quently  hold  me  in  suspense,)  without  considerable  and  un- 
'  interrupted  study.     To  obtain  opportunity  for  this,  is  my 
c  main  concern  of  a  worldly  nature.     Earthly  honours,  plea- 
c  sures,  and  wealth,  for  some  reason,  appear  vain  when  put  in 
c  competition  with  evangelical  utility,  and  I  have  not  an  in- 

*  ducement  to  pursue  them.     But  how  to  act,  I  know  not;  I 
c  feel  unwilling  to  take  any  ground  from  which  I  shall  hereaf- 

*  ter  be  obliged  to  recede,  because  the  shortness  of  life  and 

*  the  value  of  youthful  days  render  inexpedient,  measures  lia- 
f  ble  to  variation  and  change.     One  of  these  two  measures  I 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  23 

c  would  willingly  resort  to,  either  to  obtain  a  loan  of  money  to 
'  be  repaid  after  my  College  life,  with  or  without  interest,  or  to 
1  engage  and  constantly  do  some  business,  the  avails  of  which, 
(  at  the  end  of  three  or  more  years,  would  assist  me  in  acqui- 
1  ring  an  education.  Perhaps  neither  of  these  is  practicable, 
1  and  should  one  or  both  be  so,  I  know  not  the  means  of  in- 
'  troducing  myself  to  them.  I  want  advice.  I  have  none 
1  present  to  give  it.  You  must  do  it,  Sir,  and  take  the  only 
'  recompense  I  can  bestow,  my  gratitude.  It  is  not  poverty 
1  that  causes  me  to  shrink  from  abandoning  literary  pursuits; 
1  nor  is  it,  I  trust,  worldly  disrespect — but  the  certainty  of  being 
1  less  capable  of  extensive  usefulness.  I  hope  you  will  by  no 
'  means  fail  of  giving  this  an  answer  immediately,  and  thus 
'  confer  lasting  obligations  on 
i  Your  respectful  and 

1  Obedient  Servant, 

{  J.  ASHMUN." 

Of  the  result  of  this  application,  we  are  ignorant;  yet,  he 
appears  not  to  have  entered  Middlebury  College  until  Sep- 
tember, 1812,  more  than  a  year  after  the  date  of  this  letter. — 
During  his  residence  at  Middlebury,  his  habits  were  those  of 
unwearied  diligence  in  study,  and  ardent  and  elevated  devo- 
tion in  the  duties  of  religion.  He  regularly  attended  nume- 
rous religious  meetings;  assisted  in  conducting  them;  and 
though  but  seventeen  years  of  age,  was  regarded  by  the  pious 
and  able  men  of  that  town,  as  a  useful  and  efficient  coadjutor. 
To  secure  the  means  of  support,  he  was  obliged  to  instruct  a 
school  during  the  vacations,  and  even  prolong  his  exertions 
as  teacher  beyond  these  periods,  so  that  severe  and  unremitted 
application  to  study  was  indispensable  to  enable  him  to  main- 
tain an  honourable  scholastic  reputation.  "When  I  look  back 
'  upon  him,"  says  one  of  his  most  intimate  friends,  "as  unri- 
c  vailed  for  talents  (as  it  was  conceded  he  was,  by  the  officers 
1  and  his  companions  in  our  College) ;  when  I  look  upon  him 


24        •>  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

'  as  improving  on  the  models  of  Schwartz,  Van  Der  Kemp,  and 
'  Brainerd,  and  see  him  copying  our  Lord  and  Redeemer  with 
'  such  holy  diligence  and  constant  spirituality,  I  feel  that  the 
'  History  of  his  Life  will  be  an  inestimable  accession  to  the 
'  treasures  of  American  Biography.  If  your  Life  of  him  should 
'  exhibit  him  such  as  he  is  to  my  mind's  eye,  I  should  feel  that 
1  the  distribution  of  the  work  to  every  reader  of  such  things  in 
{ the  United  States,  was  an  object  not  unworthy  of  the  efforts 
1  of  my  life."* 

His  health  soon  became  so  impaired,  by  his  mental  efforts, 
as  to  compel  him  to  desist  from  them,  and  to  resort  for  the  re- 
storation of  his  strength,  to  the  exercise,  and  varied  scenes  and 
incidents  of  a  tour  through  a  delightful  part  of  New  England. 
He  travelled  slowly  as  far  as  Hartford,  Connecticut,  and  though 
at  times  so  reduced  as  almost  to  despair  of  ever  returning  to 
his  friends,  his  exertions,  in  several  towns  where  existed  ex- 
traordinary attention  to  religion,  were  frequent  and  great;  and 

*Under  date  of  April  13,  1813,  Mr.  Ashmun  expresses  grief  that  he  had 
been  led  to  engage  in  political  debates  to  his  own  unutterable  sorrow  and  the 
injury  of  the  Saviour's  cause.  O !  my  Saviour,  God,  he  exclaims,  sooner  may 
I  perish  from  the  earth,  than  bring  another  stain  upon  thine  immaculate 
cause.  It  will  be  recollected  that  this  was  during  the  last  war,  and  the  fron- 
tier settlements  were  exposed  to  the  enemy.  Mr.  Ashmun  had  just  before  this 
visited  his  native  place,  Champlain,  and  witnessed  its  desolations.  "Well,  he 
observes,  might  she  adopt  the  strain  of  the  lamenting  Prophet,  almost  literally 
fulfilled  upon  her:"  "And  He  hath  violently  taken  away  His  tabernacle,  as  if 
it  were  of  a  garden :  He  hath  destroyed  His  places  of  the  assembly.  The  Lord 
hath  caused  the  solemn  feasts  and  the  Sabbaths  to  be  forgotten  in  Zion,  and 
hath  despised  in  the  indignation  of  His  anger,  both  the  King  and  the  Priest." 
"For  three  months  the  churches  had  not  once  been  assembled,  and  their  Min- 
ister had  been  removed.  The  movements  of  war  had  rolled  a  deluging  torrent 
of  vice  in  upon  them ;  sickness  had  carried  off  some  from  the  church,  and  ma- 
ny from  the  people ;  Sabbaths  were  neglected ;  and  finally,  to  verify  the  lite- 
ral sense  of  the  above  passage,  the  house  of  Divine  worship  had  been  burned 
with  fire."  Probably  this  was  the  time,  when,  as  we  have  been  told,  young 
Ashmun  organized  and  took  command  of  a  military  corps,  and  showed  the  ele- 
ments of  those  powers  which  were  so  signally  developed  in  his  defence  of  the 
African  Colony. 


LIFE    OP    ASIIMUN.  25 

his  Journal*  at  this  time,  affords  evidence  of  his  disposition  not 
only  to  improve  every  opportunity  of  usefulness,  but  to  de- 
rive instruction  from-every  observation  of  nature  or  mankind, 
and  from  all  the  various  daily  occurrences  of  life.  The  wri- 
ter can  never  forget  the  description  of  Ashmun,  as  he  then 
appeared,  by  an  eminent  Christian  of  Wethersfield,  Connecti- 
cut, at  whose  hospitable  mansion  he  remained  during  his  stay 
there,  and  whose  virtues  are  alluded  to  with  much  sensibility 
in  his  Journal.  His  youthful  figure,  tall  but  spare,  had  an 
air  of  striking  dignity;  and  his  pale  and  emaciated  counte- 
nance, expressed  the  feelings  of  one  who  habitually  commun- 
ed with  God,  and  viewed  every  object  in  the  light  of  the  eter- 
nal world.  All  his  thoughts  and  affections  seemed  occupied 
with  religion ;  this  was  the  chief  subject  of  his  conversation ; 
and  its  truths  were  uttered  by  him  with  a  manner  and  in  a 
tone  of  such  earnestness,  as  convinced  all  in  his  presence, 
that  to  his  mind  they  were  of  unspeakable  importance,  and 
that  he  was  most  benevolently  anxious  to  extend  their  do- 
minion over  the  minds  of  others.  In  his  public  addresses, 
great  maturity  of  thought,  combined  with  the  glow  of  a  vigor- 
ous imagination,  and  the  feelings  of  a  sublime  devotion,  gave 
him  powerful  influence  over  his  audience.  Hundreds  felt  his 
appeals,  as  those  of  a  dying  man,  who  had  caught  the  spirit 
of  the  Apostles,  and  who,  ready  to  depart,  yet  lingered  near 
the  end  of  his  course,  to  admonish  and  exhort  those  who 
would  soon  see  his  face  no  more. 

In  this  tour,  and  other  shorter  excursions  to  various  parts 
of  Vermont,  Mr.  Ashmun  spent  most  of  the  summer  of  1814, 
and  found  himself  in  the  autumn,  greatly  improved  in  health; 
and  prepared  again  to  renew  his  studies  at  College.  He  re- 
mained at  Middlebury  until  the  autumn  of  1815,  when  with 
the  view  of  relieving  himself  from  some  pecuniary  embarrass- 
ments, he  became  a  student  at  the  Vermont  University,  Bur- 

*  Appendix  1. 

4 


26  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

lington.  He  expressed  also  an  earnest  desire  of  promoting 
the  cause  of  religion  in  that  Institution,  which  he  thought 
had  been  less  firmly  sustained,  than  in  that  with  which  he 
stood  connected.  He  concluded  his  studies  at  College  in  the 
summer  of  next  year,  and  was  distinguished  among  those  who 
received,  at  the  commencement,  literary  honours.  Among 
his  papers,  are  two  orations  prepared  for  this  occasion, — one 
in  English,  the  other  in  Latin ;  (the  former  marked  rejected) — 
but  both  exhibiting  a  bold  and  aspiring  spirit,  and  a  maturity 
of  knowledge  and  judgment  seldom  attained  at  so  early  a  pe- 
riod of  life. 


TJIH.VEBSITY 


CHAPTER    II. 


THE  elements  of  intellectual  strength  are  generally  min- 
gled in  the  human  character  with  ardent  feelings  and  powerful 
passions.  The  talents  which  render  men  capable  of  great 
and  noble  actions,  may,  if  perverted,  cover  them  with  all  the 
disgrace  and  infamy  of  crime.  Ashmun  was  naturally  self- 
confident,  proud,  ambitious.  His  imagination  was  warm,  his 
passions  ardent,  his  sensibility  extreme.  He  became  a  Chris- 
tian; but  his  religious  sentiments  at  this  time,  were  deeply 
tinged  with  a  romantic  enthusiasm  which  pervaded  the  con- 
stitution of  his  youth.  In  allusion  to  this  period,  he  some 
years  after  observed :  "My  genius  and  habits,  much  of  the  time, 
'  were  decidedly  of  the  ascetick  cast.  I  determined  not  only  to 
'  forsake  the  gay,  but  even  the  civilized  world;  and  spend  my 
{ life  among  distant  savages.  And  from  long  dwelling  on  this 
c  prospect,  and  naturally  directing  my  inquiries  and  reading 
'  by  it,  I  came  to  acquire  a  passion  for  the  sacrifice." 

An  attachment  formed  in  1815,  to  the  lady  whom  he  after- 
wards married,  exerted  a  powerful  influence  on  the  course  of 


28  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

his  future  life.  Wholly  engaged  in  preparing  himself  for 
Missionary  labours  among  the  Heathen,  his  own  reflections 
and  the  advice  of  friends,  convinced  him  of  the  propriety  of 
seeking  a  connexion  with  some  lady  who  would  cheerfully 
forsake  her  country  and  kindred,  to  co-operate  in  his  benevo- 
lent design  of  imparting  the  knowledge  "and  hopes  of  Christi- 
anity to  Barbarians.  A  sublime  devotion,  a  burning  zeal  to 
forsake  all  the  delights  of  home,  and  all  the  enjoyments  of 
civilized  society,  for  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer,  and  the  bene- 
fit of  the  miserable  Pagans,  were  to  him  most  admirable  and 
attractive  in  the  female  character.  Towards  a  lady,  in  whom 
he  thought  he  perceived  an  "almost  perfect  similarity  to  his 
own,  of  views,  feelings,  solicitude,  and  sentiments,"  he  pro- 
fessed to  cherish  a  deep  and  tender  affection.  "I  praise,"  said 
he,  to  her,  "the  glorious  Giver  of  all  our  blessings,  for  what  He 
has  conferred  upon  me,  and  I  trust  upon  the  Pagan  nations 
(whose  cause  I  must  always  plead),  in  disposing  you  to  regard 
them  with  so  much  tenderness,  and  even  me  in  the  favoura- 
ble light  you  do."  But  he  spoke  this  in  much  ignorance  of 
the  character  of  her  whom  he  addressed,  and  in  more  perhaps 
of  his  own.  Happy  for  both,  had  the  delicate,  nicely  propor- 
tioned and  naturally  allied  qualities  of  the  mind  and  heart, 
contributed  equally  with  the  harmony  of  their  religious  prin- 
ciples and  purposes,  to  preserve  the  constancy  of  their  mutu- 
al love. 

From  some  cause,  not  well  explained,  the  course  of  this 
affection  was,  in  January,  1816,  suddenly  chilled  and  inter- 
rupted; and  for  nearly  two  years  after,  the  question  of  his 
marriage  to  this  lady,  appears  to  have  been  regarded  by  both, 
as  unsettled.  They  were  soon  widely  separated  from  each 
other — he  having  accepted  the  situation  of  Principal  in  the 
Maine  Charity  School,  established  at  Hampden  in  that  State, 
and  she  having  become  a  Teacher  in  the  family  of  a  respect- 
able Clergyman  in  North  Carolina. 

Mr.  Ashmun  now  occupied  a  station  well  adapted  to  deve- 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  29 

lope  his  enterprise  and  energy  of  character.  In  1810,  an  asso- 
ciation of  gentlemen  had  been  formed  in  Portland,  Maine,  un- 
der the  denomination  of  the  "Society  for  Theological  Educa- 
tion," with  the  design  of  aiding  indigent  young  men  to  prepare 
for  the  Christian  Ministry.  Some  hundreds  of  congregations 
in  that  State  and  the  contiguous  parts  of  New  Hampshire,  were 
destitute  of  any  regular  religious  instruction,  and  vigorous 
measures  to  increase  the  number  of  educated  ministers,  seemed 
indispensable  to  relieve  the  moral  wants  of  the  community. — 
In  February,  1812,  this  association  obtained  a  charter,  and  a 
year  afterwards,  a  Committee  of  the  same,  were  incorpo- 
rated with  the  title  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Maine  Charity 
School.  Their  number  was  restricted  to  fifteen,  and  they  were 
invested  with  all  necessary  powers  for  laying  the  foundations 
of  a  Theological  Seminary.  In  October,  1816,  these  Trustees 
resolved,  with  the  small  amount  of  funds  at  their  command,  to 
open  a  Charity  School  at  Hampden,  and  direct  their  efforts 
towards  securing  to  it  such  patronage  as  might  finally  elevate 
it  to  a  level  with  most  of  the  Literary  and  Theological  Institu- 
tions of  our  country. 

In  entering  upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  Principal  of 
this  school,  Mr.  Ashmun  was  far  from  abandoning  his  long 
cherished  purpose  of  devoting  himself  to  the  cause  of  Foreign 
Missions.  The  motives  which  governed  him,  are  clearly  re- 
vealed in  a  letter  addressed  in  April,  1818,  to  a  friend  who  pro- 
posed to  accept  for  a  short  time,  a  commission  of  agency  to 
promote  the  interests  and  resources  of  the  infant  Seminary: — 
"With  this,  he  observes,  you  will  probably  receive  credentials 
1  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  this  Institution, 
'  appointing  you  their  Agent.  J  am  grateful  to  you,  but  far 
c  more  to  God,  for  your  offer.  I  ought  to  have  no  motive  for 
{ tarrying,  connected  as  I  am  with  the  Seminary,  but  to  glorify 
1  the  God  of  Missions,  by  assisting  in  the  establishment  of  the 
c  Institution,  expecting  to  quit  it  tfce  month  it  can  dispense  with 
:  my  services,  and  shall  have  acquired  strength  and  cohesion 


30  LIFE    OF    ASH M UN, 

1  of  parts  enough  to  bear  a  transfer,  salely,  to  other  hands, 
'  Do  not,  dear  brother,  hence  imagine,  that  I  regard  myself  the 
{  principal  or  benefactor  of  the  'Maine  Charity  School.'  Pro- 
1  cul  tails  cogitatio  esto.  But  I  offered  my  services  in  the  ca- 
'  pacity  in  which  I  act,  at  a  crisis  which,  between  the  want  of 
1  funds  and  encouragement  on  the  part  of  its  original  projec- 
{ tors  and  the  number  and  influence  of  its  decided  opposers  in 
4  Maine  and  Massachusetts  proper,  it  would  not  otherwise  have 
'  been  able  to  survive.  I  was  willing  to  risk  more  than  any 
1  other  person,  who  could  have  been  procured  to  supply  my 
c  place — if  there  can  be  any  risk  in  DUTY;  darkness  rested 

*  on  the  Institution's  prospects ;  it  had  no  Professor  of  Divi- 
{  nity — its  want  of  funds  prevented  any  suitable  candidate  for 
'  that  important  post  from  hazarding  a  connexion  with  the 
1  Seminary.    I  took  my  ground,  and  assured  the  Trustees  and 
c  public,  that  I  would  not  abandon  my  post,  till  I  saw  the  School 
4  established.     When  it  was  seen  that  it  had  an  actual  exist- 

*  ence,  it  obtained  patronage.      Professor  W.  offered  at  the 
'  same  time  to  share  his  part  of  the  hazard,  on  condition  that 

<  I  renewed  my  engagement  to  persist  in  my  connexion  until 
'  the  condition  of  the  Seminary  should  authorize  my  resigna- 
'  tion.     Thanks  be  to  God,  His  smiles  begin  to  brighten  up 
'  our  sky.    Every  cent  obtained,  you  see,  is  so  much  to  shor- 
'  ten  the  period  of  my  confinement.     Corne^  dear  Brother, 
'  and  help  me  off;  help  me  to  fulfil  my  engagements  to  the 

*  School,  and  thus  obtain  my  release.     But  I  am  shocked !  !— 
4  Perhaps  the  consideration  just  named,  ought  to  be  no  motive 
1  for  you  to  stir  an  inch.    The  salvation  of  150,000  souls  in 
'  Maine,  however,  MAY.     There  is  another.     How  many 

*  ages  will  elapse  before  all  the  Andovers  and  Princetons 
4  which  ever  will  exist  in  America,  will  not  only  supply  our 

*  present,  but  all  our  increase  of  population  with  Ministers 
1  from  the  Academician  Groves?    Institutions  on  the  foun- 

<  dation  on  which  the  'Maine  Charity  School'  is  built,  have 
1  for  ages  flourished  in  Great  Britain.     It  is  well  known  what 


LIFE    OF    ASH M UN.  31 

*  names  brighten  the  catalogue  of  their  graduates,  and  have 
1  kindled  an  inextinguishable  radiance  on  the  dissenting  com- 
'  munion  of  that  Island.  Why  may  not  these  Seminaries,  if 
'  God  has  made  such  an  honourable  and  extensive  use  of 
1  them  in  England  and  Scotland,  be  serviceable  in  America? 
1  Serviceable  ?  But,  dear  Brother,  if  we  would  not  witness  the 
1  alternative  of  the  perdition  and  lasting  Paganism  of  the  peo- 
£  pie  of  half  our  immense  territory,  are  not  Institutions  on  this 
'  plan  indispensable?  Astonishing!  that  the  attempt  to  erect 
c  Seminaries  of  this  description,  has  been  so  long  delayed. — 
1  Can  we  rationally  doubt  that  our  example  will  be  followed 
1  as  soon  as  the  beneficial  operation  of  the  Seminary  shall 
'have  been  seen?  I  almost  see  an  Institution  rise  in  the 
'  centre  of  the  State  of  New  York — in  the  western  parts  of 
4  Pennsylvania  and  in  Virginia — in  Maryland — the  Caroli- 
'  nas,  and  before  the  lapse  of  many  years,  in  the  whole  range 
1  of  the  Mississippi  States.  Whoever  undertakes  the  patron- 
'  age  of  a  truly  valuable  enterprise,  must  expect  delays,  oppo- 
1  sition,  and  discouragements  of  every  description.  Let  us 
c  both  set  our  shoulders  to  the  wheel,  and  make  the  establish- 
1  ment  of  the  'Maine  Charity  School,'  our  great  and  principal 
'  domestic  work,  before  we  go  to  serve  Christ  abroad." 

When  Mr.  Ashmun  took  charge  of  this  School  in  October, 
1816,  there  were  but  six  students,  dependent  upon  him  alone, 
for  instruction.  The  village  of  Hampden  had  no  settled  Min- 
ister and  no  organized  Church.  He  saw  that  every  thing  was 
to  be  done  for  the  Seminary,  and  much  for  the  religious  in- 
terests of  the  community  in  which  it  was  founded.  Though 
he  had  but  just  completed  his  studies  at  College,  and  had 
never  enjoyed  the  usual  advantages  of  a  theological  educa- 
tion, yet  the  doctrines  of  religion  had  long  been  subjects  of 
his  habitual  reflection,  and  his  course  of  reading  such  as  to 
render  him  familiar  with  the  methods  of  illustrating  them, 
and  the  arguments  mainly  relied  on  for  their  defence.  He 
believed  that  a  license  to  preach  the  gospel  would  give  him 


32  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

a  more  powerful  and  extended  influence,  and  therefore  sought 
and  obtained  one  in  November  or  December  of  this  year. 

Though  feeble  in  health,  his  exertions  both  as  an  instruc- 
tor of  youth,  and  as  a  preacher  during  the  winter  and  spring 
of  1816-17,  were  earnest  and  uninterrupted,  and  remarkably 
blessed  of  God.  Never  can  the  writer  forget  with  what  sen- 
•  sibility,  Mr.  Ashmun,  at  a  time  when  darkness  covered  all  his 
prospects,  and  the  tossings  of  the  ocean  beneath  him,  seemed 
tranquillity  compared  with  his  fortunes,  alluded  to  the  effects 
of  his  labours  at  Hampden,  and  soothed  his  troubled  spirit  by 
the  thought,  that  He  who  had  once  so  graciously  smiled  upon 
his  efforts,  would  never  utterly  withdraw  from  him  the  light 
of  His  love.*  In  a  masterly  Essay,  found  among  his  papers, 
designed  to  show  the  importance  of  the  Seminary  rising  un- 
der his  care,  he  observes :  "  The  Holy  Ghost,  in  less  than  six 
1  months  after  the  establishment  of  it,  converted  the  desert 
'  spot  upon  which  it  had  been  seated,  into  a  spiritual  Eden ; 
•'  and  in  less  than  a  year,  from  the  stones  of  the  wilderness, 
:  reared  up  a  living  Church  of  more  than  thirty  members,  in- 
'  to  which  the  members  of  the  School  were  immediately  incor- 
'  porated." 

It  was  obvious  to  Mr.  Ashmun,  that  efficient  measures  must 
be  adopted  to  place  the  Maine  Charity  School  upon  a  broad 
and  durable  foundation,, or  it  must  utterly  fail  to  supply  a 
number  of  ministers  adequate  to  the  demands  of  the  large  and 
rapidly  increasing  population  by  which  it  was  surrounded. — 
He  saw  the  necessity  of  elevating  it  at  once  to  the  rank  of  a 

*  We  may  judge  something  of  Mr.  Ashmun's  labours,  at  this  time,  from  the 
following  extract  of  a  letter  dated  March  10th,  1817,  addressed  to  him  by  a 
venerable  Clergyman,  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  School:  "You  have  preached 
25  times  in  two  months ;  that  is,  15  times  more  than  you  ought  to  have  preach- 
ed. You  do  right  to  tell  me  your  faults,  and  I  shall  do  right  in  reproving  you. 
Hear  me,  then.  If  you  will  persist  in  preaching  at  such  a  rate,  your  race  will 
be  short.  You  ought  to  begin  as  you  can  hold  out.  Preach  only  when  duty 
calls,  and  attend  more  to  a  regular  course  of  studies.  Count  me  not  your  ene- 
my, because  I  thus  write.  It  is  not  the  language  of  hatred,  but  of  love." 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  33 

Theological  Institution,  endowed  with  Professorships  for  its 
various  departments.  While,  therefore,  he  preached  frequent- 
ly; attended,  weekly,  numerous  religious  meetings,  and  in- 
structed the  students  under  his  direction,  in  every  branch  of 
their  literary,  scientific,  and  theological  studies ;  the  energy  of 
his  thoughts  was  principally  directed  to  the  great  object  of  so 
exhibiting  to  the  public,  the  importance  of  the  Seminary,  and 
so  recommending  it  to  their  regard,  as  to  secure  for  it  general 
and  liberal  patronage.  He  presented  to  the  Trustees  such  a 
view  of  the  immense  benefits  to  be  expected  from  it,  as  inflamed 
their  zeal  and  elevated  their  hopes.  The  manuscript  Essay 
now  before  us,  affords  evidence  that  he  had  considered  the  re- 
mote and  less  obvious,  as  well  as  the  nearer  and  more  palpable 
advantages,  which  it,  well-founded  and  sustained,  would  con- 
fer not  on  the  people  in  its  immediate  vicinity  only,  but  on  our 
country  and  the  world.  It  proves  how  comprehensively  he 
was  accustomed  to  survey,  at  this  early  age,  human  nature 
and  human  affairs. 

In  April,  1817,  he  accepted  the  appointment  of  Missionary, 
for  the  period  of  two  months,  under  the  authority  of  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  Maine  Missionary  Society ;  and  subsequently,  du- 
ring his  residence  at  Hampden,  as  his  circumstances  would 
permit,  engaged  in  the  service  of  that  association. 

Through  his  efforts,  mainly,  it  is  believed,  the  Trustees  of 
the  Maine  Charity  School  were  enabled,  in  November,  1817, 
to  appoint  a  Professor  of  Theology,  a  Professor  of  Classical 
Literature,  and  a  Tutor  to  superintend 'the  Academical  studies 
in  the  Institution ;  to  state  to  the  public,  that  they  were 
ready  to  provide  for  an  additional  number  of-  students ;  that 
the  plan  of  their  Seminary  combined  the  principal  features  of 
the  Hoxton  Academy  in  England ;  and  that  it  was  their  inten- 
tion to  render  its  advantages  equal  to  those  of  the  best  English 
Seminaries.  They  published  an  exposition  (probably  from 
the  pen  of  Ashmun),  comprising  a  brief  history  of  the  origin 
and  progress  of  the  Seminary ;  a  view  of  its  design,  plan  of 


34  LIFE    OF    ASH M UN. 

Government,  course  olf  studies;  enumerating  the  advantages 
expected  from  it,  and  concluding  with  an  impressive  appeal  to 
the  whole  Christian  community,  urging  them  to  sustain  it,  as 
involving  interests  of  universal  concern.  Mr.  Ashmun  was 
elected  the  Professor  of  Classical  Literature. 

His  studies  at  this  period  were  various ;  and  he  sought 
knowledge  from  every  scene  and  character  he  observed.  His 
Journals  and  other  writings  of  this  date,  show  that  no  means 
of  information  were  neglected,  and  not  an  hour  lost.  He 
grasped  at  every  thing  which  he  thought  might  contribute  to 
render  him  a  wiser  or  a  better  man.*  His  zeal  for  the  cause 
of  Missions  continued  intense  ;  and  he  sought  the  counsel  of 
distinguished  Clergymen,  as  to  the  propriety  of  forthwith 
placing  himself  under  the  direction  of  some  Missionary  Society. 

The  embers  of  a  former  affection  were  now  re-kindled ;  and 
with  confession  that  he  had  wrongfully  attempted  to  extin- 
guish them,  Ashmun  sought  to  renew  correspondence  with 
her  who  had  long  held  the  first  place  in  his  esteem.  To  one 
or  two  letters  addressed  to  her  early  in  1818,  land  answers 
were  received ;  but  such  as  left  unrevealed  her  precise  senti- 
ments towards  him.  His  former  tenderness  towards  her, 
however,  revived ;  he  declared  that  he  had  never  found  such 
a  friend  as  he  had  lost  by  the  forfeiture  of  her  confidence  and 
affection ;  and  that  he  seldom  thought  of  her,  but  with  tears. 

While  in  this  state  of  suspense,  a  vision  of  singular  bright- 
ness rose  upon  his  sight,  and  an  image,  to  him,  of  unrivalled 
loveliness  became  enshrined  in  his  heart.  He  felt  the  capti- 
vating effect  of  charms  surpassing  what  he  had  imagined  of 
beauty  or  excellence  in  woman.  The  chain  that  had  been 
worn  uneasily,  was  exchanged  for  the  golden  links  of  enchant- 


*Among  his  compositions  of  this  day,  are  Sermons,  Theological  Assays, 
Lectures  on  Biblical  History  and  Chronology,  a  Journal  of  a  visit  to  Boston 
and  Andover,  full  of  remarks  on  the  country,  men,  and  things,  remarks  on 
his  own  religious  character,  &c. 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  35 

ment ;  but  alas !  Honour  and  Religion  soon  bade  him  sever  the 
bond  which  he  wished  to  be  eternal. 

He  had  declared  his  purpose  of  again  offering  himself  to  the 
acceptance  of  the  lady  who  had  first  shared  his  love — had 
promised  to  meet  her  in  the  autumn  in  New  York ;  and  yet  in 
ignorance  of  her  views,  had  rashly  given  his  heart  to  another.* 

"Into  what,"  he  exclaimed  in  August,  1818,  "an  ocean 
1  of  perplexities  and  sorrow  have  I  precipitated  myself  and 
1  friends,  by  taking  a  few  steps  in  1816,  without  asking 
(  counsel  of  the  Lord  or  depending  on  His  guidance.-  I  wish 
*  to  forget  myself,  and  to  have  my  C.  forget  me  also." 

From  Boston,  in  September,  he  wrote:  "I  sometimes 
1  almost  wish  that  I  might  sink  out  of  existence,  and  va- 
1  nish  from  the  memory  of  all  my  friends  and  the  world 
1  at  once  and  forever.  Tis  presumptuous  !  But  what  can  I 
1  do  ?  If  I  live,  I  fear  I  shall  only  widen  the  breach  I  have 
1  already  occasioned  in  the  happiness  of  my  friends,  and  sully 
1  the  character  of  my  God's  Religion. — I  know  not  with  what 
'  emotions  I  shall  meet  you — or  what  will  be  the  result  of 
c  that  meeting — there  is  a  bottom  to  this  tempestuous  ocean, 
'  where  we  so  often  sink  below  our  depth ;  and  God  knows, 
1  though  we  may  not,  where  that  bottom  is.  Before  me  all  is 
'  dark  as  the  abysses  of  night,  except  when  Faith  catches  a 
1  gleam  from  the  throne  of  Him  who  spake  the  promises." 

He  recognized  the  sacredness  of  his  early  professions,  and 
determined,  whatever  might  be  the  consequence,  to  vindicate 
their  sincerity,  their  truth,  and  their  honour. 

His  marriage  to  Miss  C.  D.  Gray,  took  place  in  N.  York, 
on  the  7th  of  October,  1818. 

Having  spent  a  short  time  in  New  York,  and  visited  Phila- 
delphia to  solicit  funds  for  the  Maine  Seminary,  it  was  con- 
cluded that  Mrs.  Ashmun  should  occupy,  for  a  few  months, 

* "  for  love  is  a  flattering  mischief,  that  hath  denied  aged  and  wise  men 

a  foresight  of  those  evils  that  too  often  prove  to  be  the  children  of  that  blind 
father, — a  passion  that  carries  us  to  commit  errors  with  as  much  ease  as  whirl- 
winds remove  feathers" IZAAK  WALTON'S  Life  of  Donne. 


36  LIFE    OF    ASHMXJtf. 

her  former  situation  in  North  Carolina,  while  he  discharged 
the  duties  of  his  Professorship  at  Hampden.  But  vague  and 
injurious  rumors  preceded  him  on  his  return,  and  the  event 
of  his  marriage  was  found  to  have  alienated  his  friends  and 
irritated  many  who  stood  ready  to  take  up  weapons  against 
him.  Slander  was  busy,  suspicion  was  afloat,  and  his  con- 
duct the  common  topic  for  remark  and  censure  throughout  a 
large  portion  of  the  country.  "I  have  lost  my  influence,  he 
'  observed,  arid  blotted  my  character  as  a  Christian  in  public 
1  opinion  throughout  all  the  Eastern  States."  The  students 
of  the  Seminary  sought  to  be  excused  from  attending  his 
Lectures;  the  confidence  6f  the  Trustees  in  his  character,* 
was,  to  some  extent,  weakened,  and  all  his  prospects  of  use- 
fulness blighted.  "The  Foreign  Missionary  Society,"  he  re- 
marks, "I  am  certain,  would  not  at  present,  admit  me  into 
1  their  service,  should  I  apply  to  it.  No  Society  which  I 
'  know,  would  at  present,  employ  me  to  preach."  Thus  cast 
out  from  the  good  opinion  of  a  community  so  deeply  indebted 
to  his  labours,  he  resigned  his  situation  April  7th,  1819,  and 
embarked  for  the  South  with  no  treasure  but  a  lofty  mind — no 
guide  but  Him  who  often  leads  his  servants  through  dark 
and  unknown  ways  to  the  honours  of  His  kingdom. 

We  attempt  not  to  justify,  or  even  excuse  Ashmun,  for  con- 
duct which  injured  both  himself  and  others,  and  which 
excite J  in  his  own  mind  repentance  not  less  painful  than  sin- 
cere. But  his  sin  was  rather  against  prudence  than  integrity. 
It  sprang  from  morbid  sensibility  and  an  undisciplined 
'  judgment,  hot  from  the  calculations  of  a  hypocritical,  or  the 
baseness  of  a  selfish  and  malicious  soul.  Young,  rash,  self- 
confident,  enthusiastic,  a  passionate  admirer  of  the  graces  of 
the  female  character,  he  forgot  the  precepts  of  wisdom,  and 
while  plunging  darkly  into  a  perilous  abyss,  trusted  for  safety 
rather  to  some  remarkable  interposition,  than 'to  the  usual 
and  settled  order  of  Providence. 

*  See  Appendix  2. 


UNIVERSITY 


CHAPTER    III. 


ON  the  5th  of  April,  1819,  Mr.  Ashmun  was  engaged  in 
preparations  for  his  final  departure  from  Maine.  His  Journal 
of  this  date,  shows  how  deeply  and  painfully  he  realized  the 
circumstances  connected  with  this  event.  He  describes  him- 
self as  "unusually  depressed ;  as  undecided  and  irresolute ; 
'  as  without  any  earthly  friend  near  him ;  as  having  no 
1  definite  scheme  of  future  labours  or  settled  prospect  be- 
<  fore  him,  to  fix  his  attention  and  direct  his  efforts ;  finally, 
:  as  weak  in  faith  and  disinclined  to  the  duty  of  prayer,  and  as 
c  having  by  the  neglect  of  this  duty,  greatly  multiplied,  and 
'  foolishly  retained  his  burdens.'' 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  5th, :  he  left  Hampden ;  and  on  the 
6th  of  April,  arrived  at  Bucksport ;  from  which  place,  on  the 
9th,  he  took  passage  for  New  York,  The  following  extracts 
from  his  Journal,  of  the  6th,  7th,  and  8th  of  that  month,  deve- 
lope  his  thoughts  and  feelings  at  this  time :  — • 

"April  6th. — Reading  Mather  to-day,  I  was  deeply  im- 
'  pressed  with  the  subject  of  the  first  chapter,  which  is  the  im- 


38  LIFE  OP  ASHMUN. 

c  portance  of  living  like  dying  men  continually.  The  next, 
{  rekindled  in  my  breast  a  desire  to  make  God's  glory  my  su- 
c  preme  pursuit  in  life.  I  saw  and  felt  the  importance  of  im- 
c  mediately  reforming  in  relation  to  two  besetting  sins.  I  am 
c  sorely  borne  down  occasionally,  but  derive  some  support  from 
{ the  Throne  of  God.  In  reading  Colonel  Gardiner's  Life 
1  lately,  I  found  good  desires  and  good  resolutions  considerably 
*  strengthened  in  my  mind." 

"April  7th. — This  evening  I  was  invited  out  to  tea  with 
1  Mr.  and  Mrs.  B.  and  a  few  of  the  villagers.  I  found  my  pa- 
{ tience  and  humility  severely  tried  by  the  coolness  and  pointed 
1  neglect  or  dislike  with  which  I  was  treated.  May  I  submit 
c  myself  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God,  and  be  silent.  Why 
1  should  a  living  man  complain — a  man  for  the  punishment 
c  of  his  sins  ?  I  know  I  deserve  it  from  God,  and  if  all  my 
c  guilt  were  known,  should  also  from  my  fellow-men." 

"April  8th. — I  spent  the  day  very  agreeably  and  profitably 
1  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  B.  Reading  Witsius  on  Election,  Ef- 
'  fectual  Calling  and  Faith — Poole  on  Revelation — Recorder 
'  — several  articles  in  Jeremy  Taylor's  Casuistry — and  Dr. 
1  Lynn  and  Colonel  Dunham's  Eulogies  on  Washington;  I 
1  sadly  neglected  to  cultivate  intercourse  and  communion  with 
£  God,  and  wanted  the  comforts  of  His  spirit." 

The  weather  during  the  earliest  days  of  the  voyage,  was 
rough ;  yet,  Mr.  Ashmun,  while  amid  winds  and  waves  which 
at  one  time  threatened  the  destruction  of  the  vessel,  and  much 
afflicted  with  sea-sickness,  found  time  for  reflection,  and  to 
record  the  following  observations : — 

"I  know  not  that  I  have  gained  much  as  a  Theologian,  or 
'  a  Christian.  'Tis  wrong  to  live  so  unprofitably.  I  am  re- 
4  lieved  that  I  have  left  my  connexions  in  Maine  ;  almost  every 
1  object  there,  brings  a  painful  association.  Still  I  feel  con- 
c  cerned  at  the  uncertainty  of  my  future  condition  in  life.  I 
'  go  forth,  I  hardly  know  where,  or  to  what  work,  with  a  des- 
c  ponding  mind,  and  a  bleeding  character.  I  fear,  I  shall  for 


LIFE    OP    ASHMTJN.  39 

<  the  first  reason,  be  unable  to  act  to  much  effect ;  and  for  the 

*  second,  be  unfit  for  usefulness  in  the  Church  of  God.     Still 
£  I  have  not  ceased  to  hope  in  the  arm  of  the  Lord  of  hosts." 

Alluding  to  the  severe  sickness,  which  confined  him  for 
one  whole  day  to  his  birth,  he  exclaims :     "Ah !  what  was 

*  life  to  me  now !     I  found  for  some  reason  which  I  have  not 
'  yet  scrutinized,  that  during  my  sickness,  my  conscience 
c  wrought  more  powerfully  than  is  customary,  and  my  whole 
'  past  life  seemed  in  duration  a  dream — and  the  world  a  mere 
'  show-box  of  vanities.     I  was  in  agony,  that  amidst  so  many 
1  enormous  sins,  I  had  done  so  little  in  obedience  to  God,  or 
'  in  the  service  of  the  Redeemer.     O  !  how  unprepared  to  die  ! 

<  I  greatly  needed  supports  which  I  did  not  possess.     That 
{  greatest  of  all  temporal  afflictions,  beset  me  during  my  suf- 
1  ferings  with  overpowering  severity.     I  ought  to  have  learnt, 
1  that  if  we  watch  not,  to  keep  the  word  of  our  Saviour's  pa- 

<  tience  in  seasons  of  health  and  exemption  from  trials,  He 
'  will  leave  us  to  burn  alone  in  the  midst  of  the  furnace. — 
'  Though  not  in  despair,  perhaps  on  account  of  my  presump- 
'  tion  and  stupidity ;  yet,  during  months  past,  I  have  been 
'  much  in  doubt  of  my  good  estate,  and  am  now  far  from  the 
'  possession  of  a  comfortable  evidence.     And  did  I  ever  need 
4  it  more  ? 

"  To  what  am  I  to  attribute  so  serious  a  calamity,  as  a  state 
1  of  uncertainty,  relative  to  my  eternal  well-being  ? 

"First,  and  chiefly.  To  my  neglect  of  prayer,  meditation, 
'  self-examination,  and  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures.  Under 
c  the  general  term  neglect,  I  include  remissness  in  the  above 
<  named  duties. 

"Secondly.  To  my  unsteady  mode  of  life,  which  has  in 
1  part,  caused  those  neglects  since  September  last. 

"Thirdly.  To  the  slight  attention  bestowed  on  other  and 
*  relative  duties. 

"Fourthly.  To  the  commission  of  sins  of  uncommon,  if 
1  not  of  unprecedented  hcinousness. 


40  LIFE   OP   ASHMUN. 

"And  lastly.     To  the  want  of  humiliation  on  account  of 
1  them? 

The  remarkable  talent  of  Mr.  Ashmun  for  observation,  and 
the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  in  all  circumstances,  is  strongly 
illustrated  by  the  Journal  from  which  the  preceding  sentences 
are  quoted.  We  find  not  only  a  record  of  his  religious  views, 
but  of  the  books  read  by  him,  with  his  opinions  of  them;  as  also 
notes  of  the  courses  of  the  wind  and  vessel,  as  well  as  accounts 
of  the  Capes,  Islands,  Light-houses,  and  principal  Towns 
passed  by ;  their  distances  from  each  other,  with  every  inter- 
esting fact  that  could  be  ascertained  in  regard  to  their  condi- 
tion and  history. 

No  affliction  rendered  Mr.  Ashmun,  when  in  health,  inca- 
pable of  exertion ;  and  neither  his  regret  for  the  past,  nor  his 
apprehensions  for  the  future,  ever  caused  him  to  neglect  the 
advantages  and  duties  of  the  present  moment.  His  faith  in 
Providence  was  deep  and  settled ;  and  though  the  waves  might 
dash  over  his  bark,  nor  sun  nor  star  for  many  (Jays  appear, 
he  still  firmly  grasped  the  helm,  with  eyes  raised  towards  Him 
whom  he  knew  both  the  winds  and  seas  obey.  The  activity 
and  versatility  of  his  mind,  as  well  as  his  religious  sensibili- 
ties during  this  voyage,  will  be  very  clearly  exhibited  in  select 
passages,  which  we  here  copy,  from  has  Journal, 

April  13th,  1819. 

"JSaurin's  Sermons. — These  Sermons  are  fascinating. — 

*  The  vivacity  of  sentiment  and  expression,  with  which  they 
'sparkle,  kindling  at  times  into  a,  chastened  and  affecting 
l.  glow  of  eloquence,  certainly  present  a  model  of  sermonizing 
1  highly  worthy  of  imitation.     But  Saurin,  though  often  just, 

*  and  seldom  dangerously  erroneous  in  his  expositions  of 
'  Scripture,  is  very  general  in  his  views  of  all  doctrinal. sub- 
1  jects.     I  can  easily  conceive,  that  under  such  a  Pastor,  error 
'  might  creep  into  a  flock  undetected,  and  produce  considera- 
c  ble  ravages,  before  the  evil  would  create  alarm. 

"The  style  of  Saurin's  preaching  marks,  I  have  supposed, 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  41 

c  the  declining  period  of  the  Flemish  Churches.      Saurin's 

*  impassioned  eloquence  might  fan  the  dying  embers  of  vital 
1  piety  into  a  temporary  blaze ;  but  his  Sermons  could  not  ad- 
1  minister  that  substantial  fuel  which  was  necessary  to  per- 
'  petuate  and  increase  its  warmth. 

"I  can  conceive  of  Saurin's  animated  addresses,  and  urgent 
'  exhortations,  given  without  due  discrimination,  as  of  the 
'  spirited  encouragements  of  a  brave  General,  which,  indeed, 
1  might  quicken  the  movements  of  his  troops,  and  apparently 
(  sharpen  the  combat,  while  their  manoeuvres  are  regulated  by 
(  no  system,  their  shots  directed  at  random,  and  their  intrench- 
'  ments  in  the  ardour  and  hurry  of  the  fight,  quite  overleaped. 
t  We  would  commend  the  bravery  of  the  General,  and  might 
1  admire  the  courage  and  gallantry  of  his  men,  but  should 
'  probably  see  the  better  disciplined  enemy,  in  the  end,  master 

<  of  the  field." 

April  I4:th. 
"This  morning  at  six,  I  found  on  rising,  that  we  had  made 

*  the  round  shoals  of  Nantucket,  the  light  bearing  about  south- 
1  west,  three  leagues  distant,  wind  east,  light,  and  weather 
'  pleasant. 

"The  Town  of  Nantucket,  is  situated  on  the  north-western 
1  part  of  the  Island,  and  is  full  in  view  as  we  sail  down  the 
1  channel.  There  appeared  about  thirty  small  sail,  at  anchor 
1  before  the  Town,  which  the  Captain  said  are  fishermen  and 
1  whalers  principally,  and  owned  by  the  Islanders. 

"The  soil  of  this  Island  is  more  productive  than  that  of 
1  Cape  Cod,  and  the  face  of  it  about  equally  uneven,  and  the 
1  surface  equally  elevated. 

"Most  of  the  inhabitants  are  either  Quakers,  or  the  descen- 

*  dants  of  Quakers — unite  fishing  with  agriculture,  and  are 
1  generally  industrious,  thriving  and  moral.     The  distance 
1  from  shore  to  shore,  at  Nantucket,  is  six  or  eight  leagues. — 

<  From  Nantucket  light,  to  that  of  Holme's  Hole,  Martha's 

*  Yineyard,  is  thirty  miles, 

6 


42  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

"At  half  past  three,  passed  Holme's  Hole.  It  is  built  at  the 
£  bottom  of  a  navigable  Bay,  which  extends  inland  more  than 
1  two  miles.  On  the  extremity  of  the  western  head,  at  the  en- 
'  trance  of  the  Bay,  is  the  light.  Sailing  by  H.  H.  you  have 

*  a  fair  prospect  of  Falmouth  on  the  main  side,  only  four 
'  miles  distant  from  Holme's  Hole  light.     It  shows  about 
c  equal  to  H.  Hole.   Between  the  main,  and  a  chain  of  Islands 
'  called  Elizabeth  Islands,  which  make  a  part  of  the  south- 

*  eastern  side  of  Buzzard's  Bay,  you  have  a  prospect  through 
1  from  the  main  channel  to  the  Bay.     Small  vessels  may  pass 
'  through  this  opening,  which  is  directly  west. 

"Having  stood  on  a  little  beyond  H.  Hole  light,  westward, 
1  we  bore  away  south-west,  through  the  middle  of  the  chan- 
1  nel,  between  Martha's  Vineyard  and  Elizabeth  Islands.  On 
1  the  largest  of  these,  is  a  good  harbour,  called  Tarpaulin 
1  Cove,  where  is  a  public  house  and  a  light. 

"Martha's  Vineyard  appears  a  little  more  elevated,  and 
'  much  more  productive,  than  Nantucket. 

April  15th. 

"Rocked  about  until  near  night,  when  the  wind  freshen- 
1  ing  at  south-east,  we  run  into  Newport  Harbour,  where  I 
'  went  ashore  and  passed  the  night. 

April  16th. 

"Rose  early,  and  walked  through  the  Town.  Found  one 
1  principal  street  running  from  north  to  south,  a  little  nearer 

*  the  water  than  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  Town,  from 
<  which  short  streets  led  off  at  right  angles  either  way.     East 
4  of  this  street,  there  are  two,  and  in  some  parts  of  the  Town, 
4  more  streets  running  parallel.     West,  there  is  no  parallel 
1  street.      There  are  several  very  decent,  and  one  elegant 
4  house  for  public  worship.     By  a  singular  mixture  of  the 
1  different  orders  of  architecture  in  the  construction  of  the 
'  lofty  and  highly  embellished  spire  of  the  latter,  its  Beauty 
1  and  effect  are  much  impaired.     The  houses  on  the  princi- 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  43 

{  pal  street,  are  (less  than  one  half)  of  brick — the  other 

*  houses  and  shops  of  the  Town,  are  chiefly  of  wood. 

"The  Fort,  built  on  an  Island  directly  opposite  the  Town, 
1  three  quarters  of  a  mile  distant,  presents  a  very  beautiful 

*  appearance,  and  is  thought  to  be  a  place  of  strength. — 

*  There  is,  likewise,  a  strong  post,  on  the  point  of  the  Island, 
'  projecting  to  the  south-west  of  the  Town,  and  making  one 
'  shore  of  the  narrowest  part  of  the  channel  leading  in. 

"Nearly  opposite  this  post,  but  farther  to  the  west  and  south, 
'  on  Canonicut  Island,  is  a  circular  Castle,  built  of  stone,  and 
( though  small,  has  a  commanding  elevation,  and  the  appear- 
1  ance  of  strength. 

"The  light  at  the  entrance  of  Newport  Harbour,  is  on  Ca- 
1  nonicut  Island,  two  miles  from  Town.  From  Point  Judith 
'  light,  to  that  on  Gull  Island,  is  thirty-five  miles.  This  light 
1  is  at  the  entrance  of  Long  Island  Sound,  although  Montaug 
{  Point  projects  eastward  several  miles  beyond  it. 

"Up  the  Sound,  are  Gull  Island,  New  London,  Falcon 
<  Island,  New  Haven,  Huntington  and  Sandy  Point  lights. 
"NEW  YORK,  SABBATH,  April  18th. 

"Early  this  morning,  our  Pilot  came  aboard,  and  before 
c  nine,  we  were  safely  moored. 

"Attended  at  Dr.  Mason's  church,  Murray  street,  in  the  af- 
'  ternoon.  The  services  were  conducted  by  a  Clergyman  who 
:  appeared  to  be  a  man  of  education  and  piety,  and  a  Scotch- 
f  man ;  forcible  in  his  delivery,  energetic  and  perspicuous  in 
1  his  style  ;  he  was  deficient  in  nothing  necessary  for  a  good 
1  preacher,  except  elegance  and  modesty. 

"April  20th. 

"This  morning,  got  under  sail  for  Baltimore.  The  nar- 
4  rows,  nine  miles  from  New  York,  are  fortified  1st,  by  a 
f  strong  work  on  a  little  Island  situated  near  the  Long  Island 
c  shore. 

"2nd.  By  a  battery,  not  so  strong,  on  the  Long  Island 
c  side,  nearly  level  with  the  water,  and  perhaps  by  a  battery 


44  LIFE    OP    ASHMtirC. 

1  on  the  height  above.     But  this  I  could  not,  from  the  water, 

*  discover  if  there  be  any. 

'•3rd.  By  a  powerful  battery  on  Staten  Island  side,  di- 
'  rectly  opposite  the  works  on  the  east  side,  and  just  above 
1  high  water  level. 

"4th.  By  a  still  stronger  fortification  on  the  heights,  di- 
1  rectly  in  the  rear  of  the  last  mentioned,  and  overlooking  it 
1  entirely. 

"The  channel,  is  here  perhaps,  three  quarters  of  a  mile 
1  wide ;  ship  channel,  about  south-west,  six  or  eight  miles, 
c  after  passing  the  narrows,  and  thence  south,  south-east, 
1  nearly  to  Sandy  Hook  light. 

"Went  ashore  at  Sandy  Hook.  Found  the  whole  point  of 
1  the  Peninsula  to  have  been  formed  by  the  rake  of  the  seay 
1  on  a  sandy  bottom.  The  old  man  keeping  the  light,  in- 

*  formed  us  that  since  the  building  of  the  principal  light- 
t  house,  1762,  the  whole  of  the  Peninsula  north  of  it,  had 
1  been  formed  by  the  action  of  the  sea.     This  alluvial  point, 

*  is  at  least  half  a  mile  in  extent.     The  sand  is  very  coarse, 
<  yellow,  and,  only  in  the  interior  of  the  Hook,  mingled  with 
1  a  very  small  portion  of  vegetable  mould.     There  are  three 
'  lights  on  this  point.     The  first  house,  built  1762,  is  of  stone, 
1  octagonal,  eight  stories,  exclusive  of  the  basement,  four  feet 
1  high.    Height  from  the  foundation,  one  hundred  and  two 
1  feet.     Its  light  revolves — has  eighteen  lamps,  six  ranged 

*  on  each  side  of  a  triangular  frame,  so  that  thrice  every 
1  minute,  the  light  alternately  brightens  and  lessens,  and  is 
'  thus  distinguished  from  every  other  light  on  the  American 
'  coast.     Nine  hundred  gallons  of  oil  are  consumed  annually, 
'  in  feeding  the  lamps  in  this  and  the  two  inferior  lights  on 
1  this  point. ' 

"The  upper  story  of  this  light-house,  has  its  floor  entirely 
'  coppered ;  and  the  sides  entirely  glazed  with  iron  window 
<  sashes.  The  cap  is  either  of  sheet  iron  or  copper,  and  at 
'  the  apex,  is  the  funnel.  The  lamps  consist  of  a  tin  pot, 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  45 

{  which  contains  the  oil — a  cylinder  in  which  the  wick  is 
<  inserted  and  burns,  fed  from  the  tin  pot  in  the  rear — a 
'  glass  cylinder  in  which  the  blaze  is  enclosed,  and  a  copper 
'  backed  burnished  semi-spherical  concave  reflector  of  fifteen 
1  inches  diameter. 

"The  frame  is  carried  round  by  a  little  simple  machinery, 
c  wrought  by  means  of  a  weight  that  descends  through  five 
(  stories  and  is  raised  by  means  of  a  crank  at  top. 

MONDAY,  April  26tk. 

"At  half  past  seven  o'clock  this  morning,  went  ashore  on 
c  the  extremity  of  the  point,  (Little  Point  Comfort) 'which  we 
£  found  indeed  to  be  completely  insulated  at  high  water.  Lit-- 

*  tie  Point  Comfort  is  a  barren  neck  of  land,  composed  almost 
£  entirely  of  fine  white  sand.     Its  light  is  sixty  feet  high,  the 
c  house  built  of  cut  stone  of  considerable  size.     Compared 
'  with  the  light-house  at  Sandy  Hook,  the  structure  of  this  is 
1  very  slight,  consisting  of  a  single  layer  of  stones  from  bottom 
{ to  top.     The  steps  in  the  stairway,  are  each  a  single  stone, 
'  resting  on  the  one  next  below,  at  one  end,  for  support,  and 
( inserted  into  the  wall  at  the  other.     The  light  does  not  re- 
1  volve — is  produced  by  nine  lamps,  arranged  in  two  tiers, 
1  and  fixed  on  a  circular  frame.     The  coppered  and  inside 
1  burnished  reflectors,  are  of  the  same  construction  as  those  of 
(  Sandy  Hook ;  and  in  front  of  each,  through  which  every  ray 
'  is  refracted,  is  placed  a  plane  convex  lens,  of  eight  inches  di- 
1  ameter,  consisting  of  a  species  of  green  coloured  glass,  such 
1  as  is  used  for  sky  lights  in  the  quarter  decks  of  vessels. 

"The  shrubbery  of  this  spot,  is  to  me,  almost  entirely  new. 
'  It  consisted  of  live  oak,  ivy,  myrtle,  whortle  bushes,  prickly 
'  pears,  'cedar  and  coarse  marsh  grass,  such  as  I  saw  at  Sandy 
4  Hook.  The  land  is  a  perfect  level.  The  soil  loose  and  san- 
'  dy,  but  by  no  means  unproductive.  A  few  apple  trees  were 
'  seen  in  a  flourishing  state.  Peach  and  cherry  trees  produce 
1  the  best  fruit  and'  yield  it  plentifully.  The  planter  whom 

*  we  visited,  has  a  small  family  of  six  or  eight  slaves  em- 


46  LIFE    OP   ASHMUN. 

*  ployed,  males  and  females,  in  planting  sweet  potatoes.    Saw 

*  a  small  patch  of  land  on  which  cotton  had  been  raised 
c  the  last  yea-r.     The  plant  is  eighteen  inches  high — branches 
c  forth  in  long  slender  twigs  in  every  direction.     It  is  planted 
1  in  rows  three  feet  asunder,  and  the  plants  are  about  eighteen 

*  inches  apart.     I  should  judge  that  six  or  eight  pods  or  burs, 

*  might  grow  on  a  single  plant.     The  seeds  are  lodged  in  the 
1  ground  in  May,  and  the  cotton  gathered  in  September. 

"Negroes  perform  nearly  the  whole  of  the  labour  in  this 
(  part  of  Virginia.  The  opinion  I  have  formed  of  their  treat- 
{  ment  here,  is  favourable  to  the  humanity  of  their  masters. — 
£  They  appear  cheerful,  hearty,  and  some  of  them,  even  ro- 
'  bust.  The  houses  provided  to  shelter  them  are  small,  and 
1  many  of  them  of  wretched  appearance.  I  judge  they  are 
'  incommoded  by  the  smallness  of  the  apartments  into  which 

*  the  husbands  and  wives,  parents  and  children  of  numerous 
1  families  are  sometimes  crowded  together. 

"Generally  no  leisure  or  respite  is  allowed  the  slaves,  ex- 

*  cepting  on  the  Sabbath.     The  value  of  a  man  slave  is  en- 
(  hanced  to  his  master,  when  he  has,  on  the  same  plantation, 
1  a  wife  to  whom  he  is  attached  and  diminished,  when  his 

*  wife  belongs  to  another  plantation. 

"Every  plantation  in  this  part  of  Virginia,  is  supposed  ta 
1  manufacture  the  clothing  of  the  negroes  that  belong  to  itr 
1  from  the  rearing  of  the  raw  material  to  the  forming  of  the 
c  cloth  into  garments.  The  dress  of  the  men  and  boys,  is 
1  either  of  white  or  coloured  cotton  cloth — a  mixture  of  cot- 

*  ton  and  wool,  or  wool  alone.  *  Whatever  may  be  the  mate- 
1  rial,  the  fabric  is  very  coarse.     Some  of  the  men  have  shoes,- 
1  and  all  are  furnished  with  hats  or  caps.     The  dress  of  the 
1  men  consists  of  a  short  or  jacket,  coat,  shirt,  and  trowsers ; 
i  of  the  women,  of  a  frock  and  petticoat,  together  with  some 
1  covering  for  the  head;  and  in  the  winter,  shoes  and  stock- 
1  ings.     The  dress  of  the  females,  is  a  strong,  double,  coarse, 
f  white  cloth. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  47 

"To  clothe  a  negro  a  year,  costs  from  twenty  to  thirty  dol- 

*  lars.     His  services  may  be  purchased  for  from  fifty  to  sev- 

<  enty  dollars.     A  woman's  for  about  half  the  same.     The 

<  price  of  an  able  bodied  negro  man,  is  from  five  to  seven 

<  hundred  dollars. 

"The  slaves  are  ignorant,  without  any  principles  of  reli- 
1  gion,  or  commonly  of  morality,  and  doubtless  as  vicious  as 

*  their  condition  and  constant  application  to  labour,  will  per- 
1  mit  them  to  be. 

"Digression. — On  Friday  last,  after  our  Pilot  had  stept 
'  aboard  our  Schooner  from  his  boat,  he  asked  if  'we  would 

*  give  to  a  poor  fellow  a  passage  to  Baltimore?     Being  an- 
1  swered  in  the  affirmative,  a  young  man  of  genteel  figure, 

*  but  in  a  very  rusty  dress,  and  of  uncleanly  appearance,  dis- 
1  covered  himself  above  the  companion  way  of  the  Pilot  boat, 
'  and  without  trunk  or  bundle,  sprung  aboard.     He  waved  an 

*  affectionate  adieu  to  those  he  left  behind,  and  by  his  pronun- 
1  ciation,  showed  himself  to  be  a  foreigner.     His  clothing  was 
'  worth  to  a  person  furnished  with  any  other,  less  than  five 
1  dollars.     He  soon  discovered  himself  to  be  profane  and  dis- 

<  solute  ;  and  to  have  been  reduced  from  better  circumstances 

*  to  his  present  most  pitiable  condition. 

"During  the  remainder  of  the  passage,  we  learned,  that  he 
1  is  a  native  of  the  Isle  of  Man — of  reputable  parentage,  and 
'  whose  youth  had  been  spent  in  the  lap  of  mistaken  indul- 
1  gence.  For  at  least  a  dozen  years,  he  was  attached  to  -the 
1  British  Army  and  Navy,  alternately ;  in  connection  with 
'  which,  he  had  served  in  different  capacities — but  never 
1  held  a  commission  in  either.  He  had  served  in  India,  South 
1  America,  the  Mediterranean,  Spain,  British  America,  and 
1  the  north  of  Europe.  Had  received  in  fourteen  different 
1  engagements,  as  many  different  wounds ;  lost  two  brothers, 
( the  one  in  South  America,  and  the  other  in  Spain.  And 
1  about  nine  months  ago,  in  order  to  see  the  United  States, 
1  left  the  British  service,  contrary  to  the  advice  of  those 


48  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN, 

'  whose  counsel  should  have  governed  him,  and  was  passing 
1  on  foot,  through  the  forest  of  New  Brunswick,  in  order  to 
'  gain  our  eastern  settlements,  when  he  was  met  and  attacked 
1  by  a  bear,  from  which  he  with  difficulty  escaped  with  his 

*  life.     As  singular  as  the  facts  may  be,  I  think  his  statement 
1  is  corroborated  by  that  which  appeared  soon  after,  in  the 
'  public  papers,  that  without  any  weapon  of  defence,  a  man 
<  had  closed  with  the  animal  who  reared  himself  for  the  as- 

*  sault ;  and  while  nearly  crushed  to  death  in  the  rude  em- 

*  brace  of  his  savage  assailant,  had  the  presence  of  mind  to 
1  draw  a  knife  from  his  pocket,  and  actually  deliver  his  own 

*  life,  by  destroying  that  of  the  bear.     He  suffered  severely, 
1  and  has  hardly  recovered  from  the  injuries  he  sustained. 

"Having  arrived  in  the  United  States,  he  loitered  from 
'  town  to  town,  without  engaging  in  any  regular  employ- 

*  ment  that  might  gain  him  an  honourable  and  permanent 
'  livelihood. 

"In  Norfolk,  where  he  arrived  in  a  packet  irom  N.  York, 
£  a  few  days  ago,  he  spent  the  last  of  his  money,  and  pawned, 
1  for  less  than  half  their  value,  every  article  of  clothing  with 
'  which  he  could  dispense,  and  appear  in  the  streets  without 
'  positive  indecency ;  and  thus  destitute,  undertook  to  per- 
1  form  a  journey  on  foot,  from  that  town  to  Baltimore,  two 
{  hundred  miles.  Having  travelled  to  York,  not  more  than 
'  thirty  miles,  which  he  was  three  days  in  effecting,  he  found 
'  himself  entirely  pennyless,  and  too  lame  to  proceed.  At  no 
1  great  distance  from  that  place,  his  entreaties  prevailed  with 
1  the  master  of  a  Pilot  boat,  to  receive  him  on  board,  in  order 
{ to  obtain  for  him,  if  possible,  a  passage  to  Baltimore,  in  some 
1  vessel  bound  up  the  bay.  He  had  now  been  on  board  the 
1  boat  about  a  week.  His  object  in  visiting  Baltimore,  is  to 
'  ask  pecuniary  assistance  of  relatives  living  in  that  place  ;  or 

*  to  obtain  a  birth  in  some  South  American  Privateer ;  or  a 
'  passage  to  that  country,  in  order  to  regain  a  theatre  of  war, 
1  on  which  alone  he  appears  fitted  or  able  to  act  a  part,  that 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  49 

1  will  secure  him  from  the  most  abject  indigence,  and  morti- 

<  fying  sufferings. 

"This  affecting  case  enforces  many  a  salutary  and  instruc- 
{ tive  lesson. 
"1st.     Reason  may  be  impaired  almost  to  extinction,  by 

<  the  habitual  indulgence  of  the  appetites.     This  young  man 
1  would  not,  and  with  scarce  a  figure  of  speech,  it  may  be 
1  said,  he  could  not  calculate,  while  spending  his  last  dollar 
1  in  scenes  of  dissipation  and  intemperance,  on  the  most  obvi- 
1  ous,  direct,  and  inevitable  consequences  of  his  folly.     Until 
1  he  actually  felt  the  accumulated  -distresses  which  he  now 
1  suffers,  his  reasoning  powers  were,  from  long  disuse,  unable 
'  to  apprize  him  of  their  approach,  when  even  the  next  step 
i  was  about  to  give  him  the  plunge. 

"2nd.  It  would  be  absolutely  impossible  to  convince  this 
1  young  man,  that  there  are  any  religious  or  intellectual  plea- 
1  sures  worth  the  seeking,  or  even  the  possession.  So  entirely 
1  subdued  are  all  the  nobler  faculties  of  the  man,  by  the  exces- 
*  sive  indulgence  of  those  of  the  brute,  that  he  is  hardly  con- 
1  scious  of  possessing  any  other.  If  we  except  those  plea- 
1  sures  which  are  purely  animal,  and  those  derived  through 
1  the  medium  of  a  most  voluptuous  imagination,  he  knows 
1  and  can  know,  in  this  world,  not  the  shadow  of  enjoyment. 
( I  greatly  question,  whether  any  habit  of  acting,  or  abstinence 
1  which  he  can  form,  to  say  nothing  of  the  difficulty  of  en- 
i  gaging  him  in  a  different  course — a  difficulty  which  has 
1  seldom  or  never  been  overcome  in  a  similar  case — I  say 
1  that  no  habit  he  can  form,  would,  without  a  supernatural 
1  change  of  his  moral  taste  and  affections,  render  any  other 
1  than  a  life  of  sensual  indulgence,  tolerable. 

"What  is  true  in  his  case,  may  be  in  others ;  and  sanctions 
1  this  general  maxim: — Every  repetition  of  criminal  sensual 
1  indulgence,  tends  to  merge  the  intellectual  in  the  animal 
4  part  of  the  man.  And  when  from  inveterate  habit,  the  ap- 
'  petites  acquire  the  ascendancy,  the  way  of  reformation  is 


50  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

'  effectually  barred.     Divine  grace  'alone  can  remove  the  ob~ 
(  structions,  and  that  only  by  renewing  the  heart. 

"3rd.  Another  lesson  derived  from  this  case,  is,  that  the 
1  dissolute  man  will  sacrifice  every  other  thing  to  his  degrad- 
1  ing  pleasures — his  soul — his  friends — his  reputation — his 

*  veracity — none  are  too  valuable  to  be  immolated,  if  immo- 
'  lated  they  must  be,  or  his  pleasures  relinquished. 

"4th.  A  dissolute  life  destroys  that  sensibility  which  the 
1  near  approach  of  death  awakens  in  the  mind  of  the  reflecting 
c  and  virtuous  man.  Two  causes  may  be  assigned  for  this 
'  fact :  The  one,  that  such  are  without  a  habit  of  reflection, 
1  and  measure  their  miseries  rather  by  what  deprives  them, 
1  and  what  they  feel  depriving  them,  of  sensual  enjoyments, 
( than  by  what  they  anticipate.  Their  principle  of  estimating 

*  their  circumstances,  (if  they  can  be  said  to  form  estimates 
<  by  any  principle)  is  depressed  towards  that  which  actuates 
{ the  unthinking  consciousnesses  (for  want  of  a  better  word), 
c  of  irrational  animals,  when  such  evils  or  delights  as  awaken 
1  their  sensations,  approach  them.    It  is  little  more  than  sen- 
'  sation. 

"Another  cause  which  commonly  operates  to  produce  in 
{ the  minds  of  the  dissolute,  a  profound  insensibility  to  the 
{  fear  of  death,  is  a  defective  and  erroneous  view  of  the  na- 
1  ture  of  death,  as  respects  its  consequences.  Whatever  may 
{  have  conduced  to  their  profligacy,  will  itself  either  cut  them 
c  off"  from  the  means  of  correct  religious  instruction,  or  prevent 
'  religious  doctrines  and  all  serious  ideas  from  acquiring  a 
1  seat  in  their  mind.  The  most  formidable  quality  that,  in  the 
{  estimation  of  our  profligate,  death  possesses,  is  its  power  to 
1  end  his  revels,  and  remove  him  from  the  scene  of  his  earthly 
'  delight. 

"Blessed  religion  of  my  Saviour,  whose  principles  fortify 

*  the  soul  against  the  assaults  of  temptation,  from  the  appe- 
1  tites !    Whose  efficacy  alone  can  rescue  the  enslaved  soul 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  51 

c  from  their  power.     O  may  I  bind  its  doctrines  on  my  heart, 
(  and  carry  its  spirit  into  all  the  details  of  my  conduct." 

Several  other  extracts  from  this  Journal,  will  be  found  in 
the  Appendix.  How  depressed  were  his  spirits,  and  yet  how 
sustained  he  was,  by  considerations  becoming  his  character 
and  profession,  will  be  manifest  from  the  thoughts  left  on 
record  by  him,  just  before  landing  at  Baltimore. 

"April  29. 

"I  am  wearied  with  the  profaneness,  vulgarity,  senseless 
c  garrulity  and  levity  of  the  uncultivated  crew  with  which  I 
'  sail.  This  is  now  the  21st  day  of  my  confinement  on  board, 
c  excepting  two  days  spent  in  New  York.  I  am  wearied  with 
£  the  frequent  disappointments  that  have  occurred  in  our  pro- 
'  gress.  I  am  wearied  with  my  confinement  to  a  small, 
'  crowded,  filthy  cabin ;  to  a  still  more  filthy  and  lumbered 
'  steerage ;  and  to  a  deck  loaded  with  spruce  logs,  piled 
'  more  than  six  feet  high.  There  is  hardly  a  lucid  spot 
{  amid  the  general  gloom.  If  I  look  for  friends,  alas !  I 
1  have  not  one  on  whose  bosom  I  can  repose  this  head, 
c  with  perfect  complacency,  and  unqualified  confidence ! — 
'  There  is  not  a  being  on  earth  from  whom  I  have  the  most 
1  distant  hope  of  receiving  the  least  aid  in  preparing  for  fu- 
c  ture  usefulness  and  happiness  in  life,  or  in  obtaining  an 
c  eligible  situation,  when  prepared.  The  God  of  Heaven 
1  must  be  my  patron,  or  I  have  none.  I  am  going  into  the 
1  midst  of  strangers.  Not  the.least  acquaintance  have  I  with 
£  an  individual  I  ever  expect  to  see  again,  in  the  State  of  Ma- 
(  ryland  or  Virginia.  I  am  now  twenty-five  years  of  age  ;  al- 
£  most  three  from  College ;  have  no  profession  ;  and  my  em- 
c  ployment  has  been  such  since  I  left  College,  as  to  form  me 
•'  to  habits  unfavourable  to  the  acquisition  of  one.  I  am  in- 
'•  volved  in  debt,  possess  neither  books  nor  money,  and  have  a 
1  delicate  and  beloved  wife  to  provide  for.  I  am  wearied 
{  with  the  same  daily  round  of  dull  employment  and  still 
{  duller  indulgences;  of  studying  in  circumstances  forbidding 


52 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


1  the  exercise  of  half  the  strength  of  my  mental  powers ;  of 
*  sleeping  immoderately,  because  I  have  nothing  to  do,  or  to 
'  enjoy,  sufficiently  interesting  to  keep  me  awake ;  of  con- 
c  versing  on  subjects,  and  in  a  style  but  ill  suited  to  afford  me 
1  much  satisfaction  in  accommodation  to  the  taste  and  capa- 
c  cities  of  my  companions,  and  of  eating  for  amusement  while 
'  the  inactive  manner  of  passing  my  time,  scarcely  renders 
'  food  necessary. 

"I  am  disgusted  with  my  heart,  when  I  look  within.  I 
1  am  grieved  with  my  conduct,  when  I  review  my  life.  I  am 
'  dissatisfied  with  my  friends  and  acquaintance,  and  they  with 
'  whom  I  have  recently  been  more  intimately  associated.  The 
<  past  is  a  blank  or  a  field  of  strife,  or  a  scene  of  trials.  The 
*  present  is  tasteless ;  all  around  me,  and  respecting  me  is  un- 
{  real  and  unsatisfactory.  The  future  is  a  dreary  expanse  of 
'  storms  and  clouds,  pervaded,  indeed,  by  a  few  faint  gleams 
1  of  hope.  I  am  broken  with  disappointments ;  have  been  rob- 
'  bed  by  the  perfidy  and  ignorance  of  supposed  friends,  and 
'  the  malevolence  of  enemies,  of  my  reputation,  worth  more 
1  than  life.  The  frown  of  Heaven  is  upon  me.  My  hopes 
'  for  eternity  are  clouded.  My  soul  is  full  of  carnal  desires 
1  and  worldly  attachments.  And  how  I  support  these  bur- 
'  dens,  is  to  me  unaccountable.  But  away  with  these  com- 
'  plaints,  and  let  me  repress  every  needless  emotion  of  con- 
'  cern.  God,  who  I  hope  has  loved  me  in  his  Son,  from  eter- 
1  nity,  is  powerful,  and  good,  and  faithful,  as  in  the  day  of  my 
'  espousals.  Why  should  a  living  man  complain,  a  man  for 
'  the  punishment  of  his  sins  ?  Though  the  Jig  tree  should 
1  not  blossom,  fyc.  Though  the  mountains  should  be  carried 
1  into  the  midst  of  the  sea,  fyc.  Let  none  of  these  things 
1  trouble, me,  fyc.  Here  are  promises  enough,  rich  enough, 
1  large  enough,  free  enough.  Have  I  faith  or  a  hearty  de- 
'  sire,  a  desire  which  God  sees  and  approves  as  sincere,  to  em- 
•'  brace  them  ? 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  53 

"April   30.      Baltimore  appears  in  sight.     While  I  feli- 

c  citate  myself  in  being  so  near  the  end  of  an  unpleasant  and 

*  protracted  voyage,  the  whole  distance  being  about  one  thou- 

'  sand  miles,  I  still  feel  a  degree  of  concern  in  looking  into 

'  futurity.    A  new  era  commences  in  my  life,  the  moment  I 

c  step  ashore.     O  God,  thou  hast  been  my  hope  and  my  firm 

1  support  in  the  past  years  of  my  life.     Do  not  forsake  me 

1  now,  though  my  sins  render  it  more  suitable  that  I  should 

£  be  abandoned  to  myself,  than  ever  before ;  and  more  than 

'  ever  since  I  first  confided  in  Thee,  discourage  my  hope 

1  and  weaken  my  confidence  in  thy  mercy.    Raise  me,  O  God, 

c  and  hold  me  up.     Go  with  me  and  lead  me  into  the  midst 

1  of  strangers  in  a  strange  place.     Suffer  me  not  to  be  reduced 

c  to  poverty  and  want,  lest  I  be  diverted  from  my  great  object. 

'  I  desire  not  wealth  without  an  increase  of  grace,  lest  I  be 

'  lifted  up — more  fatally  attached  to  the  world,  and  less  de- 

1  voted  to  the  service  of  the  Redeemer.     Give  me  the  wisdom 

'  of  a  serpent,  the  gentleness  of  a  dove,  the  active,  persevering 

c  spirit  of  thine  ancient  Apostles,  ever  to  deserve  in  the  esti- 

£  mation  of  my  fellow-men  a  fair  reputation,  and  above  all,  the 

(  honour  to  turn  many  to  righteousness,  and  then,  grace  to 

c  ascribe  to  Thee  alone,  all  honour,  thanksgiving  and  glory, 

{  forever,  through  Jesus  Christ.    Amen." 

Who  that  is  acquainted  with  human  nature,  does  not  see 
amid  the  morbid  feelings  and  unsubdued  passions  of  Ash- 
mun,  at  this  crisis,  a  faith  of  power,  both  in  the  Provi- 
dence and  word  of  God,  working  to  overcome  all  that  op- 
posed it,  and  with  an  energy  which  nothing  could  long  be 
able  to  resist  ? 


THE 

UNIVERSITY 


CHAPTER   IV. 


THE  mind  of  Ashmun  was  earnest,  bold  and  independent. 
It  has  been  remarked  by  a  friend,  that  his  independence  in- 
creased with  his  difficulties  and  embarrassments.  His  spirit 
rose  unbroken  and  triumphant  from  beneath  the  heaviest 
weight  of  misfortune.  His  errors  in  judgment  at  this  period, 
related  rather  to  the  opinions  and  dispositions  of  others,  than 
to  his  own  abilities.  They  grew  out  of  inexperience  and  that 
enthusiasm  which  too  frequently  imparts  to  objects  the  hues 
of  the  imagination,  rather  than  "the  colours  of  reason."  He 
had  been  more  successful,  had  he  expected  less  from  others ; 
not  less  successful,  had  he  looked  for  more  from  himself. 

Immediately  after  his  arrival  in  Baltimore,  he  sought  the 
acquaintance  of  several  respectable  Clergymen,  rented  a 
house,  and  issued  proposals  for  receiving  under  his  instruc- 
tion, a  select  class  of  young  ladies,  to  be  educated  in  the 
higher  branches  of  literature  and  science.  His  views  in  this 
respect,  were  so  little  encouraged,  that  he  soon  turned  his 
thoughts  to  the  establishment  of  a  weekly  paper,  of  a  religious 


56  LIFE    OF   ASHMUN. 

character,  and  designed  especially'to  give  regular  abstracts  of 
Missionary  and  other  religious  intelligence.  Several  thou- 
sand copies  of  the  first  number  of  this  paper,  "The  Con- 
stellation," were  printed,  and  vigorous  measures  adopted  to 
extend  its  circulation.  To  a  friend  he  writes :  "You  must 
1  be  prepared  to  learn,  that  by  many,  it  is  neglected — by  ma- 
c  ny  suspected — by  many  disapproved — by  many  patronized, 
c  and  its  appearance  hailed  as  auspicious  to  Baltimore.  All 
c  this  I  expected ;  and  if  I  regret  any  thing,  it  is  that  the  two 
1  first  numbers  have  not  a  more  fixed  and  prominent  evange- 
1  lical  character.  I  had  my  motives  for  sending  it  out  as  I 
*  did ;  but  had  I  to  commence  the  paper  anew,  I  should  draw 
'  the  lineaments  of  its  intended  character,  a  little  more  dis- 
<  tinctly." 

Owing  to  various  causes,  principally  to  want  of  general 
information  concerning  the  views  and  character  of  the  Edi- 
tor, all  hope  of  succeeding  with  this  paper,  soon  vanished; 
and  Ashmun  found  himself  involved  in  debt,  among  stran- 
gers, with  no  prospect  of  immediate  and  profitable  employ- 
ment. 

Several  members  of  the  Maryland  Episcopal  Convention, 
then  in  session  at  Baltimore,  were  desirous  of  establishing,  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  a  periodical  publication,  which,  re- 
sembling in  evangelical  character  the  Christian  Observer, 
should  be  a  repository  for  whatever  might  advance  the  cause 
of  literature,  humanity,  or  divine  truth ;  and  a  gentleman*  of 


*  The  Rev.  Dr.  Keith,  of  the  Episcopal  Theological  Seminary,  in  this  Dis- 
trict, who  has  favoured  me  with  the  following  observations  and  anecdote,  con- 
cerning Ashmun : 

"He  was  as  remarkable  in  youth,  as  in  mature  years.  A  most  decided,  en- 
ergetic character,  determined,  if  possible,  to  accomplish  something  on  a 
large  scale,  for  the  benefit  of  the  human  race.  He  was  a  very  good  specimen 
of  the  old  Puritan  character,  and  would  have  been  in  his  element  among  the 
first  settlers  of  New  England.  He  was  a  first  rate  scholar,  and  most  deter- 
mined and  devoted  Christian.  He  was  a  student  of  the  Academy  at  Middle- 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  57 

the  Convention,  a  friend  of  Mr.  Ashmun  at  College,  sug- 
gested that  he  should  accompany  him  to  Washington,  and  oc- 
cupy the  situation  of  instructor,  in  a  respectable  family,  until 
arrangements  could  be  made  for  his  permanent  connection 
with  the  proposed  publication.*  The  suggestion  was  adopt- 
ed, and  Mr.  Ashmun  proceeded,  the  next  day,  to  Wash- 
ington. 

Not  unfrcquently,  in  the  Divine  Wisdom,  are  the  lines  of 
Providence  (long  concealed  from  human  view,  and  so  far  as 
known  by  their  immediate  effects,  in  their  relations  and 
directions  distinct,)  revealed,  converging  towards  the  same 
point,  and  finally  uniting  on  one  and  the  same  great 
object  of  good  to  mankind.  The  Episcopal  Church  in 
America,  before  the  Revolution,  though  it  embraced  in  its 
communion  a  large  portion  of  the  wealth  and  intelligence  of 


bury,  entered  College  there,  and  in  his  senior  year,  I  think,  went  to  Burling- 
ton, where  he  graduated.  After  leaving  Maine,  he  came  to  Baltimore,  and 
commenced  the  publication  of  a  religious  paper  called  the  Constellation. 
He  was  without  funds,  and  his  paper  did  not  succeed.  He  published  but  one 
number,  (it  was  a  weekly,)  consisting  of  4,000,  which  he  sent  round  the 
city,  in  the  hope  of  getting  subscribers;  but  I  believe  he  did  not  obtain  more 
than  two  or  three  hundred.  He  was  a  stranger  there,  and  had  no  friends 
or  patrons.  He  had,  besides,  contracted  a  debt  to  the  printer,  and  for  his  board. 
Happening  to  be  in  Baltimore  at  this  time,  to  my  great  surprise,  I  found  him 
there,  which  gave  me  the  first  intelligence  of  his  having  left  Maine.  *  *  * 
*  *  I  persuaded  him  to  come 

on  with  me.  We  were  to  start  in  the  stage  together;  it  was  in  the  month  of 
June.  On  coming  to  the  stage-office  at  5  in  the  morning,  instead  of  Ashmun, 
I  found  a  note  from  him,  saying,  that  his  straitened  circumstances  rendered  it 
proper  for  him  to  travel  in  a  cheaper  way,  and  that  he  would  meet  me  in 
Georgetown.  On  the  arrival  of  the  stage  at  Washington,  the  first  person  I 
met,  was  my  expected  fellow-traveller ;  and  on  inquiry  how  he  arrived  there 
before  the  stage,  which  was  in  by  eleven  o'clock,  was  informed  that  he  had 
walked  ! !  Instead  of  taking  the  School,  however,  he  undertook  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Repertory,  and  became  a  candidate  for  orders  in  the  P.  E.  Church. 

*  The  Theological  Repertory. 

8 


58 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 


the  southern  colonies,  was  feeble  in  discipline,  deficient  in 
piety,  and  very  inadequately  supplied  with  Ministers  of  zeal 
and  power.  To  no  individual,  perhaps,  is  this  Church  more 
indebted  for  her  establishment  on  broad  and  solid  foundations, 
than  to  Granville  Sharp.  At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary 
war,  there  was  no  Bishop  residing  in  America.  After  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  as  no  American  Clergyman 
would  take  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  King,  Episcopal  ordi- 
nation could  not  be  obtained. 

Mr.  Sharp  was  well  known  in  the  United  States  by  his 
writings  against  the  slave  trade  and  slavery,  and  for  his  con- 
sistent and  able  defence  of  the  rights  of  the  colonies.  Seve- 
ral of  his  Tracts  had  been  widely  circulated  by  Anthony 
Benezet  and  other  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends ;  and  he 
ever  regarded  the  success  of  his  endeavours  for  the  establish- 
ment of  Episcopacy  in  this  country,  "as  one  of  the  extraordi- 
nary effects  of  the  zealous  exertions  of  the  Quakers,  jointly 
with  the  Author  of  those  Tracts,  in  the  cause  of  African  free- 
dom ;  though  neither  party  had  the  least  idea  of  any  such 
consequence  arising  from  their  united  labours."  These  ex- 
ertions had  secured  for  Mr.  Sharp,  a  high  reputation  for  wis- 
dom and  integrity.  Great  respect  was  felt  for  his  opinions 
on  any  subject ;  and  venerating,  as  he  did,  the  doctrines  and 
liturgy  of  the  English  Church,  he  deemed  it  his  duty  to  exert 
all  his  influence  with  the  friends  of  that  Church  in  this  coun- 
try, and  her  prelates  in  England,  for  introducing  into  Ameri- 
ca, the  order  of  Bishops;  hoping  that  it  might  prove,  in  the 
language  of  the  English,  common-law,  the  strength  of  the 
Republic,*  and  greatly  conduce  to  the  progress  and  triumphs 
of  Christianity. 

In  a  note  to  the  Law  of  Retribution,  published  in  1776, 
and  subsequently,  in  two  other  Tracts,  Mr.  Sharp  main- 
tained the  right  of  the  Clergy,  and  people  of  every  diocese,  to 

*  Ordo  Episcoporum  est  robur  reipublicap. 


LIFE    OF     ASHMUN.  59 

elect  their  own  Bishop ;  and  while  by  these  writings*  and  an 
active  correspondence  with  Dr.  Franklin  and  other  eminent 
men  in  this  country,  he  did  much  to  promote  the  election  of 
Bishops  by  the  American  Episcopal  Convention ;  by  his 
efforts  with  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  other  Digni- 
taries of  the  same  Church,  he  obtained  assurances  that  the 
obstacles  to  ordination  should  be  removed,  and  that  persons 
selected  by  the  American  Convention,  and  duly  qualified  for 
the  Episcopal  office,  should  receive  consecration  at  their  hands. 
On  the  4th  of  February,  1787,  Mr.  Sharp  had  the  happi- 
ness of  witnessing  the  consecration  of  two  Bishops  elect, 
from  America,  Dr.  White  of  Pennsylvaniat  and  Dr.  Prevoost 
of  New  York,  (and  subsequently,  in  1790,  of  Dr.  Madison 
of  Virginia,)  by  the  English  Primate.  While  he  thus  saw 
accomplished,  an  object  for  which  he  had  long  laboured 
in  the  most  zealous  and  indefatigable  manner,  he  disclaims 
all  idea  of  merit  for  his  exertions,  and  devoutly  attributes  the 
success  of  them,  entirely  to  the  Providence  of  God.  How 
would  this  great  Philanthropist  rejoice  to  know,  that  the 
Church,  for  which,  during  her  infancy,  he  evinced  so  deep  a 
concern,  has  risen  to  manly  strength;  extended  her  in- 
fluence; multiplied  her  numbers;  brought  to  her  ministrations 
distinguished  learning,  talent  and  piety;  and  especially,  that 
his  own  benevolent  spirit  towards  the  African  race,  animates 
the  hearts  of  many  of  her  honoured  sons,  who  at  all  hazards, 
and  any  sacrifices,  would  transplant,  from  America  so  blest 
by  his  labours,  to  Africa  that  so  shared  in  his  sympathies,  the 


*  One  tract  on  Congregational  Courts,  and  the  other  on  the  Election  of  Bish- 
ops. "This  latter,  was  particularly  useful  in  promoting  Episcopacy  in  America. 
Even  Dr.  Franklin  (bred  a  Dissenter)  and  Dr.  Rush  declared  their  approba- 
tion of  it  in  letters  to  the  Author  ;.  and  the  two  first  Bishops  that  were  sent 
to  England  for  consecration,  declared  that  they  should  not  have  been  sent, 
had  not  the  Author's  endeavours  prompted  the  business." — Memoirs  of  G. 
Sharp. 

t  The  present  Right  Rev.  William  White  of  that  State. 


60  LiB'E    OF    ASHMUN. 

germs  and  principles  of  all  human  improvement.*  Who  can 
estimate  the  value  of  the  blessings  which  this  Church  is  ca- 
pable of  conferring  upon  Africa  !  Arid  considering  the  extent 
and  power  of  her  influence  in  the  Southern  States,  and  the 
energy  and  liberality  with  which  her  most  enlightened  mem- 
bers in  those  States  have  sustained  the  cause  of  African  Colo- 
nization, may  we  not  hope,  that  the  same  Providence,  which, 
by  the  efforts  of  Granville  Sharp  for  the  relief  of  the  distressed 
Africans,  wrought  to  strengthen  her  interests  and  complete 
her  organization,  will  work  in  her  mightily  to  regenerate  Af- 
rica and  to  build  up  over  that  vast  continent  of  superstition 
and  crime,  the  empire  of  truth,  liberty  and  holiness? 

Nor  can  the  connection  of  Mr.  Ashmun  with  this  Church, 
and  the  Theological  Repertory  devoted  to  its  interests,  be 
deemed  an  unimportant  event,  as  it  tended  powerfully  to 
awaken  among  its  members  that  zeal  and  effort  in  behalf  of 
Africa,  which  are  contributing  to  elevate  her  wretched  chil- 
dren to  all  the  privileges  and  honours  of  a  Christian  people. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Washington,  the  arrangements  for 
the  publication  of  the  Repertory,  a  monthly  Magazine  of  thir- 
ty-two pages,  were  concluded,  and  the  first  number  made  its 
appearance  in  the  month  of  August.  The  Episcopal  Clergy 
of  the  District  of  Columbia,  exercised  over  this  work  a  gene- 
ral superintendence,  while  the  ordinary  duties  of  Editor,  and 
the  whole  of  its  pecuniary  concerns,  were  assumed  by  Mr. 
Ashmun.  No  similar  work  then  existed  South  of  New 
York,  and  the  conductors  of  the  Repertory  felt  urged  by 


*  The  Biographer  of  Mr.  Sharp,  may  have  estimated  too  highly  his  influ- 
ence in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  America.  From 
reference  to  the  venetable  Bishop  White's  History  of  this  Church  in  the  U. 
States,  the  writer  is  of  opinion,  that  such  is  the  fact.  Bishop  White  pub- 
lished his  own  opinions  tending  to  the  introduction  of  the  Laity  into  the  Ec- 
clesiastical Counsels,  as  early  as  1783,  and  various  causes  contributed  to 
place  the  Episcopal  Church  in  America  on  its  present  foundation ;  yet  Mr. 
Sharp's  agency  was  important— his  efforts  early,  constant,  and  persevering. 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  61 

the  peculiar  wants   and  circumstances  of   the    Episcopal 
Church,  and  by  the  increasing  necessities  for  religious  in- 
telligence and  enterprise,  to  inculcate  in  its  pages,  not  on- 
ly sound  doctrine,  but  a  spirit  of  enlarged   Christian  be- 
nevolence.    They  sought  to  raise  the  standard  of  individual 
piety,  to  inflame  the  zeal,  enliven  the  hopes,  concentrate  the 
action,  and  extend  and  augment  the  charity  of  the  Church. 
All  the  articles  for  this  work  were  examined  and  arranged 
by  Mr.  Ashmun;  many  were  from  his  own  pen;  and  the  high 
respectability  of  its  character,  and  the  extensive  patronage 
which  it  soon  received,  are  in  great  measure  to  be  attributed 
to  the  activity  and  resolution  with  which  he  devoted  himself 
to  its  interests.     He  visited  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and  New 
York,  and  engaged  in  an  extensive  correspondence  to  pro- 
mote its  circulation. 

A  Review  of  the  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Ame- 
rican Colonization  Society,  written  by  Mr.  Ashmun,  and  pub- 
lished in  the  earliest  numbers  of  the  Repertory,  shows  how 
carefully,  even  then,  he  had  investigated  the  principles  and 
facts  on  which  this  Society  is  founded;  how  he  comprehended 
its  various  relations  and  the  vastness  of  its  object;  and  how 
thorough  was  his  conviction,  that  a  Colony  to  accomplish  any 
benevolent  purpose,  must  be  pervaded  by  the  spirit  and  pow- 
er of  Christianity.  The  introduction  to  this  Review,  is  in 
the  following  words : 

"Never,  perhaps,  in  the  History  of  man,  has  an  object  af- 
1  fording  equal  scope  for  the  exercise  of  Christian  benevo- 
1  lence,  been  found  capable  of  engaging  in  its  support  such  a 
1  compass  and  variety  of  powerful  motives,  as  that  of  the  Ame- 
{  rican  Colonization  Society.  Though  in  itself  this  object  is 
'  simple  and  definite,  and  to  superficial  observation,  of  limited 
'  and  even  questionable  utility, .  the  beneficial  consequences 

*  of  its  success  gradually  unfold  to  the  mind,  on  a  rational  in- 

*  vestigation  of  its  nature,  and  may  be  traced  up  to  the  high- 

*  est  pitch  of  moral  magnificence. 


62  LIFE    OF   ASHMUN. 

"On  a  comparative  survey  of  the  different  benevolent  enter- 
'  prises  in  which  religion  and  humanity  have  hitherto  enga- 
1  ged  the  various  portions  of  the  American  community,  we 
t  state  it  as  our  decided  conviction,  that  the  Colonization  of 
1  the  free  blacks  of  this  country  in  Africa,  is  an  object  deserv- 
'  ing  to  be  ranked  among  the  most  rational,  practicable  and 
'  beneficial;  and  has  powerful  claims  on  their  prompt  and 
'  united  support.  And  among  all  the  anniversary  reports  to 
1  which  the  systematic  prosecution  of  these  enterprises  has 
'  given  rise,  we  venture  to  say,  that  none  has  been  read  with 
1  more  awakened  attention,  and  deeper  interest,  by  the  Ameri- 
1  can  Public,  than  that,  the  title  of  which  stands  at  the  head 

<  of  this  article.73 

In  the  conclusion,  his  views  of  the  qualifications  indispen- 
sable for  the 'officers  of  the  proposed  Colony,  and  the  basis 
upon  which  it  should  rest,  are  thus  strongly  stated . 

"On  a  subject  so  important  as  that  of  the  character  and  ca- 
'  pability  of  those  who  are  to  act  as  the  Instructors  and  Magis- 
'  trates,  and  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  Colony,  there  can 
1  hardly  be  any  discrepancy  of  opinion.  That  instructers 
'  should  be  men  of  piety— that  magistrates  should  be  upright, 
1  prudent,  and  discerning — that  both  should  exhibit  a  strictly 
'  moral  and  virtuous  deportment,  none  can  doubt.  And  that 

<  all  should  be  decidedly  Christian  in  profession,  principles 
1  and  temper,  who  >vill  hesitate  to  decide,  that  considers  the 

<  nature  of  the  establishment,  the  durability  of  all  impressions 
'  made  upon  its  early  character — and  the  influence  which 
'  the  example  of  such  as  hold  conspicuous  stations,  never 
'  fails  to  exert. 

"It  is  an  opinion  which  we  believe  is  built  on  incontestible 
1  grounds,  that  an  African  Colony -,  in  order  to  answer  any 
1  benevolent  design,  must  have  for  its  basis  the  promotion  of 
'  the  Christian  Religion-r-fasi,  within  the  Colony  itself, 
1  and  subsequently,  by  means  of  the  Colony  among  the 
c  contiguous  tribes.  Of  these  objects,  the  last  is  so  in- 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  63 

(  volved  in  the  first,  that  to  this  alone,  our  remarks  shall  be 

*  confined. 

"It  is  undeniable  that  a  community  may  be  established  un- 
c  der  the  most  refined  and  excellent  system  of  civil  policy — 
c  that  it  may  cultivate  to  any  extent,  the  arts,  the  sciences,  the 
£  literature  of  civilized  society;  it  may  add  to  its  refinement, 
£  wealth  and  power — and  to  these  the  customary  appendages 
£  of  national  greatness,  and  still  exhibit  in  its  irreligious  and 
{  heathenish  character,  the  most  affecting  marks  of  national 
1  debasement  and  moral  wretchedness. 

"The  amount  of  religious  knowledge  possessed  by  the  Af- 
£  rican  class  of  our  population,  bond  or  free,  is  unhappily 
£  small;  and  the  influence  of  Christian  principles  among 
£ them,  feeble  indeed.  And  it  hardly  need  be  inquired,  what, 

*  after  a  few  years,  would  be  the  religious  character  of  a  Colo- 
£  ny  of  black  people,  collected  even  from  this  Christian  coun- 
£  try,  and  fixed  without  the  means  of  Christian  improvement 
£  in  the  midst  of  African  Paganism.     They  would  speedily 
1  divest  themselves  of  every  vestige  of  superiority  in  their  re- 
1  ligious  notions  or  practice  to  their  surrounding  neighbours, 
£  and  cease  to  be  distinguishable  from  them,  except  by  the 
c  sturdiness   and  variety  of  their  vices.      Their  irreligion 
1  would  render  them  immoral — their  immorality  factious,  con- 
{ temptible  and  wretched.     *    *    Will  any  deed  of  benevo- 
( lence  in  relation  to  them,  be  performed  by  the  simple  process 
£  of  their  removal  from  this  country?     Let  the  early  history 
£  of  Sierra  Leone  reply.     Those  Colonists,  though  not  utterly 
£  without  the  privileges  of  religion,  yet  enjoyed  so  irregular 
£  and  defective  a  supply,  that,  with  a'  few  exceptions,  they 
£  wasted  away  an  unprofitable  existence,  uninfluenced  by  its 
£  spirit,  and  died  without  its  hopes. 

"The  settlement  of  Sierra  Leone  never  experienced  prospe- 
£  rity,  till  through  the  influence  of  the  Church  Missionary  So- 
£  ciety,  its  form  and  administration  were  strictly  accommoda- 
£  ted  to  the  religious  improvement  of  the  people.  There  is 


64  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

1  now  not  a  child  in  the  Colony  for  which  provision  is  not 
1  made  to  afford  it  a  competency  of  useful  learning  and  reli- 
1  gious  instruction — not  an  adult  for  whom  a  seat  is  not  pre- 
c  pared  in  the  Sanctuary.  Since  the  propitious  era  marked 
{  by  the  commencement  of  this  state  of  things,  the  settlement 
(  has  exhibited  an  aspect  of  vigour  and  health  unknown  be- 
1  fore. 

"We  hesitate  not  to  declare  our  opinion,  that  no  Colonist 
c  should  be  suffered  to  land  in  Africa,  who  with  his  offspring, 
'  cannot  enjoy  in  a  good  extent  the  advantage  of  Christian  in- 
c  struction.  Infinitely  preferable  is  a  state  of  bondage,  in  a 
1  land  where  they  may  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  true  God, 
{  and  the  great  Salvation,  than  to  be  abandoned  to  ignorance 
1  and  vice,  on  the  remote  shores  of  Africa. 

"But  the  Christian  Religion  is  the  only  basis  on  which  a 
'  prosperous  Colony  can  be  reared;  and  it  is  a  sure  one."* 

During  his  connection  with  the  Repertory,  (a  period  of 
nearly  three  years,)  not  only  did  Mr.  Ashmun  continue  to 
send  forth  through  its  columns,  much  intelligence  concern- 
ing Africa,  the  slave  trade,  and  the  American  Colonization 
Society;  but  in  1820,  with  the  approbation  of  the  Managers 
of  that  Society,  he  commenced  the  publication  of  THE  AF- 
RICAN INTELLIGENCER,  a  monthly  Journal,  of  thirty-two 
pages,  designed  to  give  a  complete  view  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  Colony — of  the  Board  in  this  country — of  the  mea- 
sures of  Government  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade — 
as  also  to  illustrate  by  facts,  and  enforce  by  arguments,  the 
claims  of  the  African  cause.  He  had  for  some  time  sought 
diligently,  to  add  to  his  knowledge  of  Africa,  and  of  all  plans 
proposed  for  her  benefit;  and  at  Washington  had  neglected 
no  means  of  ascertaining  fully,  the  views  and  purposes  of  the 
Managers  of  the  Colonization  Society.  They  respected  his 
talents,  had  occasionally  availed  themselves  of  his  services, 

*  Appendix  3. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  65 

and  were  prepared  to  expect  from  his  labours,  as  Editor  of  the 
Intelligencer,  great  and  beneficial  results.  Unfortunately, 
no  general  interest  was  felt  in  the  object  of  the  work,  which 
appeared  in  a  solitary  number,  and  expired. 

At  this  period,  Mr.  Ashmun  was  greatly  perplexed  and  agi- 
tated on  the  subject  of  a  profession  for  life.     "Indeed,"  he  re- 
marks, "my  mind  has  been  distracted  on  this  subject,  since 
1  the  autumn   of  1818.     So  nearly  balanced  have  been  the 
1  reasons  for  and  against  entering  upon  the  sacred  Ministry  of 
1  the  Gospel,  as  either  to  hold  my  mind  completely  in  a  state 
'  of  suspense,  or  to  prevent  my  engaging  with  vigour  in  the 
'  requisite  preparations.  Several  times,  certainly  not  less  than 
1  three,  have  I  been  on  the  point  of  abandoning  all  further 
'  thoughts  of  the  sacred  profession,  and  turning  my  attention 
'  to  some  other  pursuit."     Though  he  had  been  licensed  to 
preach  by  the  Congregational  Clergy  of  Maine,  and  for  two 
years  had  successfully  proclaimed  the  Gospel  under  their 
sanction,  the  painful  events  that  occasioned  his  departure 
from  that  state,  and  the  peculiar  circumstances  in  which  he 
found  hi  mself  at  the  South,  constituted  valid  reasons,  in  his 
judgment,  for  uniting  himself  to  the  communion,  and  engag- 
ing in  the  service,  of  the  Episcopal  Church.     After  his  arri- 
val at  Washington,  he  regularly  attended  on  divine  worship 
in  this  Church, — on  one  occasion  preached,  and  at  an  early 
day,  entered  his  name  as  a  candidate  for  ordination  in  the  Di- 
ocese of  Virginia.     His  views  of  religious  truth,  continued 
mainly  unchanged;  while  the  more  he  examined  and  the  bet- 
ter he  knew  the  Church,  with  which  he  now  stood  connect- 
ed, the  stronger  became  his  attachment  to  her  worship,  disci- 
pline, and  polity.* 

In  January,  1821,   he  considered,  seriously,  the  question, 


*  Mr.  Ashmun  was  no  high-churchman.  He  would  have  concurred  fully, 
I  doubt  not,  in  the  following  remarks  of  the  Rev.  Leonard  Bacon  in  his  "Man- 
ual for  Young  Church  Members,"  a  book  which  deserves  to  be  read  by  every 
Minister  and  member  of  the  Church  :  "There  is  no  high-church  doctrine  in 

9 


66  LIFE    OF    ASH M UN. 

whether  or  not,  he  should  enter  the  Ministry.  He  had  then 
reached  the  27th  year  of  his  age.  "I  can,"  he  observes,  "look 
'  over  my  last  two  years,  as  over  the  blank  leaves  of  my  note 

*  book;  or  rather  the  miserable  waste  paper,  covered  with 
'  blots  and  unintelligible  scrawls,  and  a  thousand  useless  scraps 
'  of  Latin,  poetry,  half  finished  sentences,  and  a  midnight  spec- 
1  ulation  on  the  moon.     I  have  dipped  into  many  studies, 
(  but  mastered  none.     I  doubt,  indeed,  whether  my  mind  is 
'  in  so  well  disciplined  a  state,  or  is  in  any  degree  better  fur- 
4  nished,  than  at  that  time.     The   Lord  forgive  me."     "O 
f  God,  my  Judge,"  he  exclaims,  "aid  me  with  thy  unerring 
1  guidance.     May   I   not  judge  nor  decide  rashly.     May  I 
1  properly  depend  on  the  intimations  of  thy  Spirit  and  thy 

*  Providence;  and  properly  exercise  my  own  reason  andjudg- 

*  ment;  and  in  my  final  decision,  preserve  a  good  conscience, 
1  and  obtain  thy  blessing;  and  whatever  pursuit  I  adopt,  may 
c  I  still  be  thy  entire  and  devoted  servant;  and  hold,  as  I  have 
'  professed  befuru  many  witnesses,  all  my  powers,  and  all  my 
'  influence  sacredly  consecrated  to  Thee,  in  Jesus  Christ  my 
1  Lord  and  Redeemer.     Amen." 

To  this  question,  Mr.  Ashmun  brought  all  the  energies  of 
his  mind, — it  occupied  his  thoughts  almost  exclusively  for 
several  days,  and  he  sought  direction  from  the  oracles  of  God. 
That  sense  of  Religion  which  enables  its  professor  to  discern 

the  New  Testament.  I  do  not  mean  by  a  high-churchman,  one  who  holds  to 
this  or  that  particular  form  of  Church  order;  for  as  I  understand  the  word, 
there  are  high-churchmen  in  every  sect  By  a  high-churchman,  I  mean  any 
man,  whether  Episcopalian,  Presbyterian,  or  Congregationalist,  who  believes 
that  his  form  of  church  organization  has  an  exclusive  divine  right,  and  that 
every  church  not  formed  exactly  according  to  the  pattern  which  he  imagines 
he  has  seen  in  the  mount,  is  guilty  of  schism,  of  usurpation,  and  of  offering 
strange  fire  before  God.  Such  a  man  finds  himself  constrained  to  stand  aloof 
from  all  Christian  intercourse  with  those  who  are  not  of  his  ecclesiastical 
household,  and  to  act  as  if  his  distinguishing  principles  of  church  order  were 
of  more  importance  than  all  the  points  of  Christian  truth  which  he  and  the 
'  dissenters'  hold  in  common.  It  is  in  reference  to  this  exclusiveness,  where- 
ver it  may  be  found,  that  I  say,  there  is  no  high-church  doctrine  in  the  New 
Testament." 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  67 

in  present  actions  the  seeds  of  good  or  evil  everlasting,  ren- 
dered him  cautious  in  forming  a  decision,  in  the  consequen- 
ces of  which  the  highest  interests  of  himself  and  others  might 
be  deeply  involved.* 

That  he  had  early  devoted  himself  to  the  Ministry,  in 
gratitude  to  God  for  his  deliverance  from  condemnation  and 
the  power  of  sin;  had  professed  this  to  be  his  only  object  du- 
ring his  classical  studies;  had  often  privately  renewed  the 
dedication  of  himself  to  this  work]  had  already  for  two 
years  preached  the  Gospel  with  success;  had  since  his  ces- 
sation therefrom,  relaxed  from  the  strictness  of  Christian  du- 
ty and  lost  much  of  religious  consolation;  that  in  the  view  of 
the  world,  his  piety  and  consistency  might  appear  questiona,- 
ble,  should  he  engage  in  any  other  pursuit;  all  these  weighty 
considerations  urged  him  to  decide  upon  the  Ministry  as  a 
profession:  While  a  consciousness  of  past  imprudences  and  a 
belief  that  these  would  be  magnified  by  the  ungenerous;  that 
the  enemies  of  religion  would  impute  them  to  his  principles, 
and  Christianity  suffer  thereby;  that  his  motives  for  leaving 
the  Congregational  Church  would  never  be  so  understood 
by  his  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  brethren,  as  to  revive 
towards  him,  in  their  minds,  perfect  confidence;  that  such 
confidence  could  hardly  be  expected,  even  from  Clergymen 
of  his  own  Church;  that  consequently  his  own  zeal  and  in- 


*  "But,  however  satisfactory  to  his  judgment  and  conscience,  this  body  of 
evidence  may  have  proved,  Mr.  Bacon  never  contemplated  the  work  [of  the 
Ministry]  without  trembling.  The  greatness  of  its  responsibilities,  and  the 
consequences  as  they  must  affect  his  own  eternal  state,  of  a  faithful  or  negli- 
gent performance  of  its  duties,  presented  themselves  to  his  enlightened  mind 
with  awful  interest.  This  feeling  was  enhanced  by  a  survey  of  the  effects 
which  his  Ministry  must  produce  on  the  present  and  everlasting  happiness  of 
a  multitude  of  his  fellow-mortals;  and  on  the  interests  of  Christ  and  the  mani- 
festation of  the  divine  glory  in  the  Church  and  the  world  !  Had  his  faith 
been  less  vigorous,  and  his  love  and  fear  of  God  less  operative,  his  sensations 
in  the  anticipation  of  this  work,  would  have  been  proportionably  less  over  • 
whelming."— Mr.  dshmun's  Life  of  the  Rev.  S.  Bacon. 


68 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


fluence  would  be  checked  and  reduced;  these,  with  other 
reasons,  and  especially  that  of  his  enlarging  prospects  of  use- 
fulness as  a  Layman,  finally  inclined  the  scale,  and  he  deter- 
mined to  abandon  all  thoughts  of  the  sacred  office. 

In  this  decision,  his  understanding,  rather  than  his  heart, 

acquiesced:  since  we  find  him  almost  immediately  turning 

from  the  study  of  the  Law,*  to  which,  when  this  decision 

was  formed,  he  resolved  to  devote  a  portion  of  his  time,  to  that 

of  Theology;  and  expressing  the  opinion,  that  he  "was  not 

'  at  liberty  to  engage  in  any  pursuit  entirely  secular."     One 

of  his  most  valued  friends  advised  strongly,   that  he  should 

continue  his  connection  with  the  Repertory;  and  in  a  letter 

to  Bishop  Moore,  dated  February  6,  1821,  Mr.  Ashmun,  after 

alluding  to  the  character  and  importance  of  that  work,  and 

to  the  improbability  that  any  one,  not  better  qualified  for  the 

Ministry  than  himself,  could  be  found  to  conduct  it,  alleges 

his  own  concern  for  its  usefulness  and  duty  to  its  interests,  as 

reasons  which  might  be  deemed  sufficient  for  his  declining 

longer  to  remain  a  candidate  for  Holy  orders.t 

*  Among  his  notes  written  while  in  Africa,  we  find  the  following  sen- 
tences: "In  1821,  I  undertook  to  study  Medicine.  But  my  time  being  other- 
wise engaged,  I  was  obliged,  in  a  few  weeks,  to  throw  up  the  pursuit.  A  few 
months  afterwards,  I  entered  with  great  resolution,  and  under  greater  embar- 
rassments on  the  study  of  the  Law.  I  had  my  daily  bread  to  earn  by  my  daily 
labour;  and  the  weight  of  a  most  losing  literary  enterprise  to  sustain." 

f  We  cannot  deny  ourselves  the  pleasure  of  inserting  here,  the  reply  of  the 
venerable  Bishop  of  Virginia: 

v        RICHMOND,   FEBRUARY  9,   1821. 

Dear  Sir; — I  perceive  from  your  communication  of  the  6th  of  January,  that 
you  still  appear  very  undecided  upon  the  subject  of  the  Ministry,  and  that  you 
consider  the  duty  you  owe  the  Repertory,  as  equally  imperious  with  that  of 
clerical  engagement.  While  your  mind  continues  in  that  state,  I  would  deci- 
dedly recommend  a  continuance  in  your  present  pursuit;  as  it  would  be  impos- 
sible for  you  to  esteem  yourself  called  to  the  Ministry,  until  duties  of  a  sacerdo- 
tal character  operate  with  such  power,  as  to  bear  down  every  other  considera- 
tion. 

When  the  period  arrives,  in  which  the  Almighty  shall  make  the  appeal  to 
your  heart,  "What  dost  thou  hear,  Jehudi  ?"  all  temporal  considerations  will 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  69 

In  that  pathless  wilderness  of  thought,  where  the  spirit  of 
Ashmun  seems  to  have  roamed  at  this  period,  his  hopes  al- 
ternately rose  and  fell;  his  purposes  wavered  with  the  vary- 
ing aspect  of  Providence;  but  his  will  was  true  to  virtue;  and 
the  "countenance  of  God,"  "The  sun  of  the  human  soul,*" 
threw  in  light  and  gladness  upon  many  spots  of  fearfulness 
and  gloom.  There  were  seasons,  when  far  away  from  the 
agitating  passions  and  pursuits  of  men,  the  speculations  of 
philosophy  and  the  contests  of  ambition,  he  refreshed  him- 
self by  the  cool  and  transparent  fountains  fast  by  the  oracles 
of  God,  and  mingled  the  voice  of  his  devotion  with  the  songs 
of  the  birds  among  the  branches.  There  were  moments 
when  Faith  had  well  nigh  the  power  of  vision,  when  mount- 
ing up  with  wings  as  an  eagle,  until  earth  was  lost  to  his 

lose  their  charms  in  your  view;  and  neither  bars  nor  bolts  will  prevent  you 
from  making  your  escape,  and  listening  to  the  voice  of  the  great  Shepherd. 

Although  I  do  not  wish  to  inculcate  the  necessity  of  such  a  call  to  the 
Ministry,  as  men  of  sober  understanding  would  style  enthusiastic,  still  I  be- 
lieve, that  the  impression  of  ministerial  duty,  when  the  summons  shall  be  re- 
ally given,  will  be  so  strong,  and  the  impulse  so  great,  that  the  mind  will  rest 
satisfied  with  nothing  less,  than  the  pursuit  of  the  important  object.  There 
will  then  be  no  halting  between  two  opinions  !  your  only  cry  will  be,  "lead  me 
forth  in  thy  truth,  and  guide  me,  thou  who  art  the  God  of  my  salvation;"  all 
minor  considerations  will  be  swallowed  up  in  the  ardent  wish  to  save  souls,  and 
reason  and  religion  will  both  point  to  the  same  distinct,  clear  and  soul  convinc- 
ing mark. 

The  Minister  of  Religion,  unless  borne  up  and  impelled  by  such  principles, 
would  sink  under  the  arduous  duties  of  his  office;  the  opposition  of  those  for 
whom  he  labours  would  overwhelm  him;  but  supported  by  such  considerations, 
considerations  resting  on  eternal  objects,  he  can  endure  hardships  as  a  good  sol- 
dier of  Jesus  Christ;  and  when  the  people  of  his  charge  are  asleep  upon  their 
pillows,  he  will  stand  as  a  watchman  upon  the  wall:  breast  every  storm:  ward 
off  every  blow:  and  think  and  pray,  and  provide  for  his  flock,  with  due  vigi- 
lance. 

When  the  Almighty  shall  be  pleased  to  effect  a  full  impression  upon  your 
heart,  and  you  feel  anxious  to  embark  in  the  sacred  cause,  remember,  that 
should  I  be  spared,  you  will  find  in  me  a  friend — a  friend  disposed  to  further  and 
promote  your  views. 

*  Young. 


70  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

sight,  he  descried  the  glories  of  the  celestial  City,  realized 
that  there  were  the  treasures  of  his  heart,  and  felt  that  it  was 
happiness  enough,  to  find  a  home  forever,  in  that  land  of 
everlasting  rest. 

From  January  to  July,  1821,  he  was  occupied  in  conduct- 
ing the  Repertory;  and  in  literary  and  theological  reading 
and  study.  The  subject  of  the  Prophecies  received  a  portion 
of  his  attention;  while  he  occasionally  reviewed  the  classical 
authors  which  he  had  perused  with  pleasure  and  profit  in  his 
youth. 

Still,  the  inclination  of  his  will,  the  strong  current  of  his  af- 
fections, was  towards  the  sacred  Ministry;  and  on  the  7th  of 
July,  1821,  he  addressed  the  following  letter,  to  the  Bishop  of 
Virginia: 

"Right  Rev.  and  Dear  Sir : — After  much  prayer  for  the 
'  sure  guidance  of  the  great  Head  of  the  Church,  I  am  at  length 
*  brought  fully  to  the  conviction,  that  I  ought  to  delay  no  lon- 
1  ger  an  application  for  orders.  It  is  with  much  trembling 
1  and  many  fears,  that  I  offer  myself;  but  my  hope  in  the 
c  grace  of  Him  who  can  support  and  make  me  faithful,  is 
1  stronger  than  my  fears;  and  from  my  heart,  I  am  willing  to 
1  trust  to  His  promises,  and  go  forward.  However  useful  the 
i  Repertory  may  prove,  I  do  not  think  it  right  for  me  to  re- 
1  linquish  the  Ministry  in  order  to  conduct  that  work;  nor 
c  can  I  conscientiously  suffer  my  purpose  of  resuming  the 
1  sacred  functions  of  a  Christian  Minister  to  continue  longer 
'  unsettled  and  indefinite  (as  hitherto)  through  nry  own  neg- 
1  lect. 

"I  hope  the  Repertory  will  continue  to  be  published  with 
{  an  improving  character;  and  I  am  disposed  to  do  what  I 
1  can,  consistently  with  other  duties,  to  promote  both  its  per- 
c  manency  and  usefulness.  Should  I  receive  ordination  this 
c  summer,  it  might  and  probably  would  be  judged  advisable 
c  for  me  to  maintain  for  several  months  longer  my  connexion 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  71 

*  with  that  publication;  nor  have  I  at  present,  distinctly  in 

<  view,  any  vacant  situation  which,  in  the  event  jrf  my  ordi- 
6  nation,  I  might  immediately  and  constantly  supply.     But 

<  during  my  stay  in'  the  District,  I  think  that  I  might  be  use- 
'  fully  employed  in  a  sort  of  desultory  ministration  in  the  vi- 
1  cinity. 

"My  reading  for  the  last  two  years,  as  you  may  well  sup- 
'  pose,  has  been  miscellaneous.  I  long  to  be  in  a  condition 

*  to  devote  my  undivided  attention  to  the  appropriate  pursuits 

<  of  a  theological  student,  but  plainly  cannot  enjoy  -the  privi- 

*  lege  while  my  present  cares  and  labours  lie  upon  me.     I  am 
c  willing,  however,  to  offer  myself  for  examination  in  the  stu- 

<  dies  prescribed  by  the  canons,  as  the  former  grounds  of  my 
1  application  for  orders  were  set  aside.     For  the  examination, 
•*  I  submit  it  to  yourself  to  make  the  requisite  arrangements, 
'  and  beg  you  to  afford  me  reasonable  information. 

"You  probably  will  recollect  the  circumstances  in  which 
1  my  first  application  to  you  was  made.  Although  I  am  at 
4  the  present  time  a  resident  of  Alexandria,  yet  I  shall  proba- 

*  bly  in  a  few  days,  return  to  the  north  side  of  the  Potomac. 
1  In  my  last  conversation  with  Bishop  Kemp,  (more  than  a 

*  year  ago,)  he  advised  me  to  proceed  in  my  studies  until  I 
x  should  be  ready  for  ordination;  and  said,  that  at  that  period, 
c  a  proper  course  could  be  taken.     Am  I  to  understand  that  it 

*  is  to  be  a  matter  of  arrangement  between  Bishop  Kemp  and 
i  yourself?    You  will,  Sir,  have  the  goodness  to  advise  me, 
4  as  far  as  necessary,  on  this  point. 

'  I  am,  Right  Rev.  and  Dear  Sir, 

(  With  sincere  respect  and  esteem, 
1  Your  dutifhl  servant, 

'  J.  ASHMUN. 
"Right  Rev.  R.  C.  Moore." 

In  reply,  Bishop  Moore  expressed  doubts  of  the  propriety  of 
granting  ordination  to  candidates  not  prepared  to  devote  them- 


72  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

selves  entirely  to  the  Ministry;  but  stated,  that  he  should  be 
disposed  to  make  an  exception  in  favour  of  the  present  appli- 
cant, (his  connection  with  the  Repertory  being  limited  to  a 
short  period,)  provided  a  letter  dimissofy  should  be  obtained 
from  the  Bishop  of  Maryland.  But  the  object  appears  never 
further  to  have  been  prosecuted.  The  purposes  of  Mr.  Ash- 
mun  again  fluctuated;  the  embarrassed  state  of  the  pecuniary 
affairs  of  the  Repertory,  upon  which  alone  he  depended  for 
support,  required  vigilant  attention;  and  his  engagement  in 
the  composition  of  a  work  which  he  hoped  might  prove  ad- 
vantageous to  himself  and  of  public  utility,  rendered  his  im- 
mediate introduction  into  the  Ministry,  impossible. 

There  was  an  invisible  Hand  guiding  the  subject  of  this 
Memoir,  through  all  his  uncertainties  and  perplexities;  and 
which  subsequently,  when  he  had  attained  the  height  of  his 
destiny,  lifted  the  veil  from  the  past,  pointed  out  the  windings 
of  his  way,  and  revealed  to  him  the  mysteries  of  Providence. 


CHAPTER  V. 


NUMEROUS  and  various  causes  now  united  to  prepare  Mr. 
Ashmun  for  his  great  work  in  Africa.  That  at  this  time,  he 
should  have  undertaken  to  write  the  Life  of  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Bacon,  who  had  died  in  the  first  attempt  to  found  a  Colony  of 
free  persons  of  colour  from  the  United  States  in  Africa — that 
he  should  have  accomplished  this  task  under  a  painful  weight 
of  cares  and  anxieties,  not  only  with  energy,  but  enthusiasm, 
is  remarkable;  since,  hardly  any  literary  enterprise  would 
have  promised  less  of  distinction  or  profit  to  the  Author,  and 
none,  perhaps,  contributed  so  effectually  to  qualify  him  for 
that  station,  which  by  providential  and  most  unexpected 
events,  he  was  soon  to  occupy.  A  Biography  will  seldom  at- 
tract immediate  and  general  notice,  unless  the  subject,  the 
author,  or  both,  have  excited  beforehand,  some  public  inter- 
est. Neither  the  varied  and  instructive  history,  the  devoted 
piety,  the  affecting  death  of  Bacon,  nor  the  talents  of  Ashmun, 

could  supply  the  want  of  celebrity.    Mr.  Bacon's  course  in 

10 


74 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 


Africa,  by  which  only  he  was  extensively'  known,  had  been 
sad  and  brief,  while  Mr.  Ashmun  was  a  young  man,  just 
stepping  forth  alone,  and  a  stranger,  upon  the  open  stage  of 
life. 

Enthusiastic  as  he  was,  it  can  hardly  be  believed,  that  he 
indulged  large  expectations  of  the  success  of  this  work.  He 
engaged  in  it,  that  he  might  render  a  just  tribute  of  respect  to 
an  early  martyr  in  the  cause  of  African  Colonization;*  bring 
out  in  a  clear  light  *  from  the  retirements  of  individual  expe- 
rience, those  traits  of  Christian  character,  which  gave  him 
strength  in  action,  and  support  in  adversity  and  in  death;  and 
thus  animate  American  Christians,  by  the  power  of  his  exam- 
ple, to  prosecute  and  complete  the  work  of  justice  and  mer- 
cy (for  which  he  had  counted  his  life  an  unworthy  sacrifice) 
towards  a  land  the  most  suffering  and  outraged  on  earth. — 
In  the  salutary  exercise  of  his  intellectual  powers,  the  pros- 
pect of  some  relief  from  pecuniary  difficulties,  and  the  hope 
of  conferring  a  substantial  benefit  on  a  poor  orphan  boy,  the 
son  of  Mr.  Bacon,  he  found  additional,  though  subordinate 
motives. 

The  encouraging  intelligence  communicated  in  the  Report 
of  Messrs.  Mills  and  Burgess,  who,  under  the  authority  of  the 
American  Colonization  Society,  in  the  year  1818,  visited  and 
explored  the  African  coast,  induced  the  Board  of  Managers  to 

*  "To  his  visit  to  the  Metropolis,  at  this  time,  the  writer  of  this 
Memoir  is  indebted,  for  the  only  opportunity  he  enjoyed,  of  cultivat- 
ing with  Mr.  Bacon  a  personal  intercourse.  Short  as  the  term  of  his  stay 
•was,  it  proved  amply  sufficient  to  discover  to  the  observation  of  those  with 
whom  he  associated,  many  of  the  estimable  characteristics  of  his  mind.  Such 
was  the  simplicity  of  his  manners,  and  the  candour  of  his  character,  as  to 
show  out  in  the  most  natural  expressions,  the  genuine  qualities  of  the  heart. — 
The  impression  which  these  were  capable  of  making  on  the  mind  of  one,  till 
then  a  stranger,  has  constituted  his  chief  motive  for  engaging  hvthe  interest- 
ing labour  of  preparing  for  the  world,  this  humble  memorial  of  his  worth.  It 
seeks  no  higher  merit,  than  that  of  giving  to  one  of  the  brightest  examples  of 
piety  and  Christian  benevolence,  in  this  age,  a  just  exhibition." — Life  of  Ba- 
con, page  237-38. 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  75 

adopt  early  measures,  for  selecting  and  sending  out,  a  com- 
pany of  free  men  of  colour,  disposed  to  become  pioneers  in 
the  difficult  enterprise,  of  laying  upon  that  shore  the  foun- 
dations of  a  Christian  Colony.  • 

The  President  of  the  United  States  was  authorized  by  an 
Act  of  Congress  of  the  3d  of  March,  1819,  to  restore  to  their 
own  country,  any  Africans  captured  from  American  or 
foreign  vessels,  attempting  to  introduce  them  into  the  U. 
States,  in  violation  of.  law,  and  to  provide  by  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  suitable  agency  on  the  African  coast,-  for  their 
reception,  subsistence,  and  comfort,  until  they  could  return  to 
their  relatives,  or  derive  support  from  their  own  exertions. — 
Happily,  there  existed  between  the  Executive  of  the  United 
States  and  the  Managers  of  the  Colonization  Society,  every 
disposition  mutually  to  aid  each  other  in  effecting  their  ob- 
jects in  Africa,  which,  though  distinct,  were  alike  philanthro- 
pic, and  to  be  accomplished  far  more  easily  by  concerted, 
than  by  separate  action.  "It  was  determined  to  make  the  sta- 
'  tion  of  the  Government  Agency,  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  the 
*  site  of  the  Colonial  Settlement;  and  to  incorporate  in  the 
'  Settlement,  all  the  blacks  delivered  over  by  our  ships  of 
'  war,  to  the  American  Agent,  as  soon  as  the  requisite  prepa- 
<  rations  should*  be  completed  for  their  Accommodation." 

In  February,  1820,  in  the  ship  Elizabeth,  chartered  by  the 
Government,  Mr.  Bacon  embarked  at  New  York,  for  Africa, 
as  principal  Agent  of  the  United  States,  accompanied  by 
John  P.  Bankson  assistant,  and  Dr.  Samuel  A.  Crozer,  Agent 
of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  and  a  company  of 
eighty-eight  emigrants,  who,  in  consideration  of  their  pas- 
sage and  other  aid  from  Government,  agreed  to  prepare,  on 
such  spot  as  might  be  selected,  by  the  erection  of  suitable 
buildings  and  the  cultivation  of  the  ground,  for  the  reception 
of  the  Africans  who  might  be  delivered  over  to  the  protection 
of  the  Agent. 

*  Life  of  Bacon. 


76  LIFE    OP   ASHMUN. 

This  expedition  proceeded  by  way  of  Sierra  Leone  to  the 
Island  of  Sherbro:  the  season  of  arrival  was  unhealthy,  the 
emigrants  were  landed  on  low,  alluvial  ground,  where,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  weeks,  by  exposure  and  disease,  all  the  Agents, 
and  more  than  twenty  of  the  emigrants,  perished.  Many  a 
heart  was  touched  with  sorrow  at  the  event,  and  the  light  of 
many  hopes  grew  dim. 

The  Life  of  Bacon  is  comprised  in  an  octavo  vol- 
ume, of  about  three  hundred  pages.  Of  this,  too  large 
a  portion,  perhaps,  relates  to  his  youth,  and  to  inci- 
dents and  events  in  his  history,  unimportant  in  themselves, 
but  which  the  Biographer  has  skilfully  exhibited  in  many 
striking  relations,  and  used  as  the  connecting  thread  of  his 
own  thoughts  and  reflections.  Interesting  facts  are  stated  in 
regard  to  the  literary  and  religious  Institutions  of  New  Eng- 
land; discriminating  observations  on  human  nature  enliven 
the  narrative;  which  abounds  every  where  with  useful,  and 
in  some  parts,  with  original  and  profound  remarks  on  the  doc- 
trines, experience,  and  practice  of  Christianity. 

We  are  prompted  to  introduce  select  passages  from  this 
Memoir,  as  well  from  regard  to  the  reputation  of  the  Author, 
and  the  moral  beauty  of  the  character  he  has  portrayed,  as 
that,  by  a  few  specimens  the  Public  may  be  enabled  to 
judge  of  the  general  merits  of  the  Work. 

The  Rev.  Samuel  Bacon  was  born  in  Sturbridge,  Worces- 
ter County,  Massachusetts,  in  1781.  His  mother,  of  whom 
death  deprived  him  in  his  early  childhood,  was  a  woman  of 
a  kind,  pious,  charitable,  humble,  and  gentle  spirit.  His 
father  was  a  man  of  strong  understanding,  good  judgment, 
of  a  bold,  enterprising,  intrepid  character;  but  of  a  rough  and 
severe  temper.  The  education  of  young  Bacon,  until  his 
twentieth  year,  was  almost  wholly  neglected;  his  attendance 
for  a  few  weeks,  at  a  grammar  school,  first  excited  in  his 
mind,  an  earnest  desire  for  knowledge;  which  he  resolved  to 
gratify  as  soon  as  he  should  be  released  from  parental  restraint. 
No  sooner  had  he  become  of  age,  than  he  devoted  himself 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  77 

wholly  to  the  pursuit  of  a  liberal  education;  though  he  in- 
curred thereby  his  father's  displeasure,  and  became  an  exile 
from  the  home  of  his  youth.  By  industry,  perseverance,  arid 
the  most  rigid  economy,  he  finally  obtained  an  education  at 
Harvard  College.  His  exertions,  privations,  and  confine- 
ment to  study,  injured  his  health;  and  his  condition  during 
the  last  year  of  his  College  life,  is  thus  described: 

"It  was  in  vain  longer  to  struggle  against  his  increasing 

<  and  extreme  debility,  attended  with  some  of  the  most  alarm- 
1  ing  symptoms  of  a  pulmonary  consumption.     He  tore  him- 

<  self  away  from  the  scene  of  literary  enchantment;  and  was 

<  enabled  by  the  seasonable  aid  of  some  generous  benefactor, 

*  to  indulge  himself  for  a  few  weeks,  in  several  short  excur- 
1  sions  into  the  interior  of  New  England.     The  change  of 
{  objects,  society,  and  air,  and  especially  the  release  from  the 
«  confinement  and  studies  of  College,  thus  obtained,  produced 
1  a  trifling  abatement  of  the  most  dangerous  symptoms  of 

<  his  complaint;  and  he  revisited  Cambridge  in  June,  to  at- 
'  tend  the  customary  examination  of  the  candidates  for  the 
1  first  degree.     *     *    He  appears  to  have  passed  it  with  repu- 
1  tation.     *     *     The  commencement  in  September,  when 
c  his  class-mates  received  their  degrees,  he  was  not  able,  from 
1  his  illness,  to  attend;  and  continued  several  months,  in  a 
1  state  of  almost  hopeless  debility.     He  was  entirely  sensible 
{  of  the  dangerous  character  of  the  disorder,  and  of  its  almost 

*  certain  termination  in  his  dissolution.     For  several  months 

*  he  expected  the  event  with  confidence;  but  appears  to  have 

*  contemplated  it  with  composure,  and  even  indifference. — 
1  The  tremendous  prospect  scarcely  extorted  a  single  cry  for 
«  mercy,  or  excited  a  thought  for  the  fate  of  his  soul.     This 
i  alarming  destitution  of  feeling  in  an  accountable  and  rational 
«  being,  can  easier  be  accounted  for,  than  vindicated.    His 
'  life  had  been  uniformly,  and  in  an  uncommon  degree,  up- 
c  right,  admitting  the  correctness  of  the  standard  of  duty 

<  which  he  had  adopted.    He  cheerfully  recognised  his  obli- 


78  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

c  gations  towards  his  fellow-creatures,  as  far  as  their  present 
1  convenience  was  concerned;  and  it  was  his  pleasure  to  ful- 
'  fil  them;  but  this  was  the  limit  of  his  benevolence,  and  of 
1  his  most  extended  notion  even  of  religious  duty.  His  vast 
1  obligations  to  God,  and  the  Saviour, — obligations  enforced 
'  by  all  the  goodness  concerned  in  his  creation,  and  preserva- 
'  tion,  and  all  the  grace  displayed  in  his  redemption,  and 
'  which  are  comprehended  in  the  summary  injunctions  of 

*  both  departments  of  revelation,  'to  love  the  Lord,  with  all 
1  the  soul,  the  mind,   and  the  strength,' — these  obligations, 
'  even  in  the  confident  anticipation  of  an  early  call  into  the 

*  presence  of  his  Creator,  were  wholly  unfelt.     Let  it  be  re- 

*  collected,  that  Mr.  Bacon  at  no  period  of  his  life,  certainly 
'  not  at  the  one  now.  under  .review,  was  accustomed  to  restrain 
<  his  reflections  on  other  subjects,  however  grave  and  serious. 
1  On  topics  of  this  kind,  from  the  natural  sobriety  of  his  char- 
4  acter,  and  contemplative  turn  of  his  mind,  his  thoughts 
1  more  readily  dwelt  than  on  any  other.     *    *    His  case  is  a 
1  common  one.     Death,  to  the  prosperous  man  of  the  world, 
1  is  usually  little  more  than  the  idea  of  his  ceasing  to  enjoy 

*  the  pleasures  of  life:  to  the  tender  husband  or  parent,  its 
1  most  appalling  idea  is  that  of  his  widowed  and  orphan  fami- 

*  ly;  to  the  rich,  it  is  formidable  as  involving  a  new  disposi- 

*  tion,  or  the  dissipation  of  his  estate;  to  the  scholar,  as  the 
'  termination  of  his  studies;  but  to  the  languid  and  suffering 
1  victim  of  a  slow  decay,  it  often  presents  itself  as  opening  an 
'  obscure  and  gloomy,  but  not  unfriendly  asylum,  from  the 
1  ravages  of  disease  and  pain.     There  is  indeed,  an  apparent 
1  variety  in  the  views  with  which  these  different  characters 
1  regard  the  awful  close  of.  their  mortal  existence.     But  sup- 
'  pose  them  uninfluenced  by  Christian  principles,  and  they 
'  agree  in  more  respects  than  they  differ.     Death  itself,  and 
'  its  consequences,  as  they  affect  the  soul,  are  regarded  as  lit- 

*  tie  more  than  a  final  sleep,  of  no  importance  except  as  it  al- 
'  ters  their  'relation  to  the  things  of  the  present  life.     The 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  79 

{  convincing  power  of  the  divine  Spirit,  by  discovering  to  the 
1  mind  the  purity  and  extent  of  the  law  of  God,  by  impressing 
1  on  the  heart  a  sense  of  His  holiness  and  justice,  and  arousing 
'  the  conscience  from  its  sleep,  and  false  hope  from  its  dreams 
1  of  bliss,  can  introduce  a  new  and  awakening  train  of  reflec- 
'  tions  in  the  breast  not  of  the  dying  only,  but  of  the  living — 
1  Such  a  man  can  neither  live  nor  die,  without  awful  forebo- 
c  dings,  and  intolerable  anguish  of  spirit,  till  he  has  some  assu- 
1  ranee  that  his  condemnation  is  reversed,  and  his  peace  es- 
1  tablished  in  Heaven.  Mr.  Bacon  was  not  so  convinced,  and 
'  saw  the  probable  approach  of  the  closing  scene  of  his  life  • 
<  without  emotion.  But  his  God  was  merciful.  He  had  in 
'  reserve  for  him,  blessings  of  which  he  had  never  even  con- 
'  ceived  the  value.  Towards  the  close  of  autumn  the  most 
'  formidable  of  his  symptoms  disappeared.7' 

Having  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  Law,  and  conducted, 
for  a  short  season,  a  weekly  newspaper  in  Worcester,  Massa- 
chusetts, he  was  induced,  by  the  flattering  representations  of 
a  friend,  and  the  hope  of  benefit,  both  to  his  health  and  spir- 
its from  a  milder  climate,  to  visit  Philadelphia  and  establish 
a  school  in  that  City.  His  anticipations  were  not  realized, 
nor  did  he  derive  any  important  assistance  from  his  friend. 
His  Biographer  remarks : 

"In  this  country,  nothing  can  be  more  fallacious  than  the 
£  hopes  excited  in  young  men  by  the  promises  of  patronage. 
1  In  whatever  department  of  life  the' proffered. interest  is  to 
'  be  exerted  in  their  favour,  the  probable  result  is  the- same. 
1  The  very  constitution  of  our  society  renders  the  expectation 
1  of  rising  under  individual  patronage  most  precarious.  ,  No 
c  individual  is  secure  for  a  day  of  being  able  to  retain  the  in- 
'  fluence  over  any  portion  of  the  community,  which  he  be- 
1  lieves  himself  to  possess.  He  may,  at  any  time,  be  required 
L  to  struggle, — and  struggle  in  vain,  perhaps,  with  the  popu- 
*  lar  current,  to  maintain  his  own  interest.  The  connexion 
1  from  which  a  young  man  may  have  expected  important  be- 


80  LIFE    OF   ASHMUN. 

<  nefits,  so  far  from  assisting,  may  thus  come  to  prove  the  great- 
1  est  detriment  to  his  advancement.     These  remarks  will  be 

<  seen  to  have  a  special  application  to  the  profession  of  the 
1  law.    But  they  must  be  true  as  general  maxims,  so  long  as 
'  society  is  young  in  America,  and  probably  as  long  as  the  re- 
4  publican  principle  remains  unchanged  in  the  government, 

*  and  so  largely  pervades  all  the  inferior  departments  of  the 
1  community.     Success  in  no  honourable  pursuit  can  reasona- 
1  bly  be  anticipated  on  any  other  condition  than  that  of  the 
'  blessing  of  God,  upon  diligent,  persevering,  and  upright  in- 
4  dustry." 

At  this  period,  "a  cheerless  infidelity  had  usurped  in  his 
4  mind,  the  place  of  a  resigned  confidence  in  the  guardianship 
1  of  Heaven;  and  converted  any  just  impressions  of  the  doc- 
1  trine  of  a  particular  providence  and  agency  that  might  re- 
1  main,  into  a  source  of  dread,  rather  than  of  relief.  But  Re- 
1  ligion,  at  this  time,  afforded  him  about  as  little  annoyance 
1  as  peace.  It  was  not  the  subject  which  occupied  his  atten- 
tion." 

After  having  wandered  on  foot,  in  the  winter,  into  the  inte- 
rior of  Pennsylvania,  and  encountered  and  overcome  many 
obstacles,  Mr.  Bacon  opened  a  school  in  Lancaster,  acquired 
reputation'  as  a  teacher,  and  for  three  years,  exerted  himself 
unremittingly,  for  the  benefit  of  his  pupils,  (amounting  some- 
times to  one  hundred)  and  made  large  sacrifices  to  improve 
the  system  and  raise  the  standard  of  education. 

In  1812,  he  was  appointed  and  accepted  the  office  of 
a  Second  Lieutenant  in  the  Marine  Corps  of  the  U.  States. 
Of  a  duel  in  which  he  was  engaged  with  a 'brother  officer, 
Mr.  Ashmun  remarks : 

"Destitute  of  that  inward  fear  of  God,  and  that  principle 
4  of  obedience  to  His  authority,  which  alone  can  render  the 
4  soul  superior  to  the  tyrannical  laws  of  a  perverted  and  spu- 

*  rious  honour;  and  a  stranger  to  the  power  of  divine  grace 
4 in  restraining  the  inordinate  dominion  of  the  passions,  he 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  81 

{  was  easily  seduced  by  pride  and  resentment,  to  engage  in  a 
*  duel  with  an  officer  of  the  same  corps,  on  the  pretext  of  ter- 
1  minating  some  trivial  disagreement.    His  antagonist  in  this 
f  rash  and  criminal  enterprise,  had  formerly  been  one  of  his 
f  most  intimate  and  confidential  friends,  to  whom  he  had 
1  once  regarded  himself  as  under  very  particular  obligations ! 
1  Which  of  the  parties  was  the  aggressor  and  deserved  the 
1  severest  reprehension,  in  the  quarrel  which  led  to  this  af- 
'  fair,  is  no  part  of  the  writer's  object,  and  cannot  be  that 
c  of  the  Christian  reader,  to  inquire.     SuffiQe  it  to  say,  that 
'  Mr.  Bacon  lived  to  express  the  deepest  abhorrence  of  the  un- 
c  natural  act,  and  to  regard  the  individual  who  participated 
'  with  him  in  the  sin  and  the  peril  of  it,  with  a  feeling  of  af- 
1  fectionand  respect,  which  all  the  blood  that  has  ever  flowed 
1  in  voluntary  assassinations  could  never  inspire.  The  wretch- 
c  edness  of  a  common  apostacy,  and  the  blood  of  an  univer- 
4  sal  atonement,  to  the  faith  of  a  Christian,  cannot  fail  to 
'  present  such  considerations  as  must  bind  him  with  the  tie 
1  of  essential  brotherhood  to  every  individual  of  his  species. 
1  On  the  basis  of  this  sublime  view  of  the  mutual  relations  of 
c  men,  was  Mr.  Bacon's  benevolence  for  all  his  fellow-men, 
{  eventually  established.     Under  the  influence  of  this  spirit, 
£  suppose  him  to  receive  an  injury  which  should  directly  af- 
'  feet  his  character.     Still,  it  must  be  a  brother  who  inflicted 
'  it;   and  whom,  because  he  was  his  brother,  it  would  be  im- 
c  possible  for  him  to  injure  in  return.    Mr.  Bacon's  subse- 
1  quent  detestation  of  the  practice  of  duelling,  was  likewise 
4  founded  on  the  knowledge  which  faith  had  revealed  to  him 
1  of  the  strictness  and  purity  of  God's  holy  laws,  and  the  cex- 
c  ceeding  sinfulness  of  sin.' " 

His  marriage  in  1814,  to  Miss  Anna  Mary  Barnitz,  was 
productive  of  much  happiness;  but  her  death  in  1815.  over- 
whelmed him  with  unutterable  distress.  "He  sa\>  in  the 
c  stroke,  the  hand  of  Omnipotence,  and  tremble*.  But  he 
c  was  neither  humbled  under  it,  nor  constrained  to  withdraw 
•'  his  heart  nor  his  confidence  from  the  world." 

11 


82  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1816,  Mr.  Bacon  became  the 
subject  of  powerful  religious  impressions;  and  the  terrors  of 
conscience,  acting  upon  a  system  enfeebled  by  disease,  led  him 
for  a  time  to  expect  a  sudden  death  by  the  visitation  of  God. 
"His  spirit  (says  his  Biographer,)  found  no  rest;  it  had  re- 
4  ceived  a  wound,  which  every  recollection  aggravated,  and 
1  all  his  attempts  to  heal,  were  worse  than  idle.  The  hand 
1  of  the  Almighty  had  inflicted  it,  and  the  remedy  was  only 
c  with  Himself."  In  the  anguish  of  his  soul,  he  resorted  for 
advice  to  a  Minister  of  Christ: 

."The  Clergyman  found  it  needful  to  appease  the  violent 
'  agitation  of  his  mind;  and  afterwards  imparted  to  him  a 
*  variety  of  counsel;   the  purport  of  all  which  seems  to  have 
<  fallen  much  short  of  Mr.  Bacon's  expectations;   and  he  re- 
'  turned  disappointed  and  dejected.     Perhaps  no  pastoral  du- 
f  ty,  not  even  that  which  the  ordinary  death-bed  calls  upon 
'  a  minister  to  perform,  is  so  awfully  momentous,  or  so  diffi- 
c  cult,  as  that  of  directing  the  mind  of  a  convinced  and  tho- 
1  roughly  awakened  sinner  into  the  narrow  path  of  salvation. 
1  Advance,  he  must:  and  the  very  next  step  taken  in  such  a 
1  crisis,  may  be  decisive  of  his  eternal  doom.     The  skilful 
1  physician  will  endeavour  to  accommodate  the  advice  afford- 
e  ed  in  different  cases,  to  their  respective  circumstances;  but 
1  the  example  of  the  primitive  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and 
{ the  very  nature  of  the  sinner's  wants  unite  in  determining 
c  that  counsel  to  be  the  safest,  and  generally  far  the  most  be- 
c  neficial,  which  shall  most  magnify  the  offices  of  the  Saviour, 
c  and  enforce  an  immediate  recourse  by  faith,  to  his  cross. — 
c  The  more  intelligibly  this  act  of  faith  can  be  explained  to 
{  his  mind,  and  the  more  essential  to  his  salvation,  it  can  be 
1  made  to  appear,  the  more  efficacious,  as  a  means  of  grace, 
£  the  advice  will  be  likely  to  prove.     The  inquirer  himself, 
*  it  is  always  to  be  presumed,  is  a  very  incompetent  judge  of 
{ the  treatment  best  adapted  to  his  own  case.     Mr.  Bacon's 
'  disappointment,  on  this  occasion,  to  whatever  it  might  be 
«  owing,  was  probably  serviceable  to  him;  as  it  more  effectu- 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  83 

1  ally  taught  him  the  fallacy  of  all  expectations  of  relief  not 
*  founded  on  the  mercy  and  power  of  God  alone.  The  peru- 
c  sal  of  'Doddridge's  Rise  and  Progress/  which  was  put  into 

<  his  hands  at  the  time,  was  an  important  help;   as,  by  pre- 
1  serving  him  from  absolute  despair,  it  gave  him  the  power  of 
c  concentrating  his  thoughts  without  distraction,  on  the  great 
'  doctrines  of  salvation. 

"At  what  moment  the  gift  of  faith  was  first  imparted,  and 
f  his  heart  brought  to  bow  with  entire  submission  to  the  yoke 
c  of  Christ,  does  not  plainly  appear.  But,  from  the  period  to 
'  which  this  part  of  the  narrative,  refers,  he  seems  never,  even 
f  for  a  day,  to  have  remitted  the  pursuit  of  his  salvation;  and 
f  scarcely  to  have  declined,  by  a  single  relapse,  from  those 

<  high  attainments  in  faith  and  holiness,  which  he  was  ena- 
i  bled  through  an  abundant  supply  of  grace,  to  make  with  a 
1  rapidity  seldom  exceeded  by  the  most  favoured  Christian. — 
i  But  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  original  corruptions  of  his  heart 
t  were  not  at  once  eradicated,  nor  the  current  of  habit  revers- 
1  ed,  by  an  absolute  exertion  of  divine  power.    But  grace 
1  eventually  accomplished  this  work  by  engaging  all  the  pow- 
1  ers  of  his  mind  in  a  long  and  arduous  course  of  exertion, 
1  vigilance  and  self-denial.    His  conflicts  were  often  sharp 
4  and  painful:  but  commonly  of  momentary  continuance. — 
4  The  fervency  of  his  prayers,  and  the  habitual  prevalence  of 

<  a  vigorous  faith,  gave  him  an  easy  and  rapid  conquest  of 
1  his  spiritual  foes.     Nearly  every  struggle  against  sin  proved 
1  to  him  the  occasion  of  a  new  victory  over  it,  till,  by  a  dispen- 
*  sation  as  merciful  to  him,  as  mournful  to  the  world  he  left, 
1  he  was  early  translated  to  the  scene  of  his  everlasting  tri- 
c  umph." 

For  more  than  two  years,  from  the  period  of  his  conver- 
sion to  the  faith  of  Christ,  Mr.  Bacon  was  almost  exclusively 
occupied  in  efforts  to  promote  the  cause  of  Sunday  schools. 
In  July,  1819,  it  was  stated  in  the  Report  of  the  Sunday 
School  Society  in  York,  Pennsylvania,  "That  there  were 


84  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

*  then  thirty-three  schools,  employing  about  two  hundred  and 
4  twenty  teachers,  and  containing  two  thousand  two  hundred 

*  scholars  within  the  County.   These,  with  a  very  few  excep- 
{ tions,  were  all  the  fruits  of  Mr.  Bacon's  personal  exertions, 
(  and  owed  much  of  their  success,  and  the  interest  which  they 
1  held  in  the  public  mind,  to  his  efficient  superintendence."- 
The  following  extracts  from  this  Biography,  exhibit  the  ele- 
vated Christian  character  of  this  servant  of  God : 

"Prayer  has  been  significantly  styled  the  natural  respira' 
1  tion  of  the  new-born  soul;  and  the  gently  distilling  influ- 
1  ence  of  the  divine  Spirit,  the  etherial  element  on  which  it 
{  habitually  feeds.  The  subject  of  this  memoir  has  been  seen 
4  in  a  laborious,  but  ineffectual  struggle  with  the  opposing 

*  principles  of  his  nature,  to  hold  himself  to  the  stated  perform- 
'  ance  of  this  duty,  even  after  long  and  frequent  intervals  of 

*  its  allowed  neglect.    But  now  the  holy  work  proceeds  al- 
'  most  without  constraint,  or  interruption.     Nearly  every  ex- 
<  pression  of  his  feelings  is  blended  with  a  fervent  invocation 
1  to  the  Author  of  all  spiritual  influences,  for  an  increase  of 
1  those  very  desires  which  prompt  his  petitions.     Commu- 
1  nion  with  God,  through  his  Son,  and  by  the  Holy  Spirit,*  is 
1  now  the  most  delightful,  and  therefore  an  uniform  exercise 
1  of  the  soul.    It  is  the  highest  end  to  which  it  aspires,  and  an 

*  employment,  in  which  could  it  be  wholly  absorbed,  it  would 
1  repose  its  tired  energies  with  inconceivable  delight.      *    * 

"But  the  Saviour's  benediction  and  promise,  'blessed  are 
i  they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness,  for  they 

*  shall  be  filled,'  have  their  partial  accomplishment,  in  the 
1  present  world.     To  very  few  could  the  qualification  on 
1  which  this  promise  depends,  be  appropriated  with  more 

*  manifest  propriety,  than  to  Mr.  Bacon.    The  command  of 

*  the  Saviour,  (ask  that  your  joy  may  be  full,'  was,  likewise, 

*  through  grace,  in  a  good  degree  obeyed  by  him.    He  was 

*  Eph.  n,  is.    . 


LIFE    OF    ASIIMUN.  85 

1  incessant  in  his  petitions  for  this  very  blessing.     Why  is  it, 
1  that  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  influence  on  the  minds  of  the 

<  saints,  has  fallen,  in  this  age,  if  not  into  partial  discredit,  yet 

<  into  so  low  and  restricted  a  practical  use,  among  those  who 
1  are  most  interested  in  it  1    The  orthodox  cannot,  indeed, 

*  disbelieve  the  promises  which  relate  to  so  great  a  blessing; 
1  the  doctrine  is  retained  in  all  our  formularies  of  faith;  but 

*  why  is  it  not  more  valued  ?     Why  are  the  blessings  which 
1  it  implies,  so  remissly  sought,     and  so  little  expected  ?  Next 

<  to  the  truth,  that  our  redemption  has  been  effected  by  the 
{  blood  of  the  ISon  of  God,  none  more  deeply  concerns  our 
c  blind  and  corrupted  race,  than  that  of  the  purchase  and 
1  mission  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  purify  our  hearts,  bring  down 

*  a  foretaste  of  Heaven  into  our  souls,  and  enlighten  our  un- 
1  derstandings  to  comprehend  the  divine  mysteries  of  the  gos- 
£  pel.    No  promises  are  more  intelligible  and  express,  than 
1  those  which  relate  to  this  inestimable  privilege  of  believ- 
e  ers.    *    *    Had  every  professing  Christian  afforded  in  his 
1  own  example,  the  same  practical  illustration  of  the  nature 
c  and  extent  of  the  operations  of  the  Spirit  on  the  heart,  as 
'  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  not  only  would  its  opposers  be 
1  silenced,  but  so  illustrious  a  feature  of  our  holy  religion 
c  would  impart  to  the  whole  system,  in  the  view  of  the  world, 
1  a  glory  which  it  has  never  exhibited  since  the  age  of  the 
<  apostles.  *  *  *  * 

"Mr.  Bacon's  very  theory  in  religion,  may  be  properly 
1  termed,  practical.  He  could  conceive  of  nothing  that  de- 
1  served  the  name  which  did  not  comprehend  love  to  God, 
1  faith  in  the  Saviour,  and  charity  to  men, — each  manifesting 

*  itself  in  its  appropriate  fruits.    Hence,  the  barriers  which 
'  some  others  choose  to  throw  around  themselves,  and  the 

*  members  of  their  own  particular  religious  sect,  and  which 
•l  are  sustained  chiefly  by  certain  verbal  definitions  of  subor- 
dinate points^of  faith,  were  to. him  unknown;  and  unless 


86  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

( interposed  by  the  bigotry  of  others,  in  a  manner  that  obliged 
1  them  to  be  felt,  were-  wholly  disregarded. 

In  November,  1818,  while  arguing  a  cause,  Mr.  Bacon  was 
insulted  by  his  opponent  at  the  Bar,  and  charged  with  false- 
hood. Having  noted  this  in  his  Journal,  he  adds  : 

"The  time  was,  when  I  should  have  instantly  seized  a 
'  deadly  weapon  on  such  an  occasion;  and  suffered  nothing 
1  but  blood  to  atone  for  the  indignity:— I  acknowledge  it 

*  with  remorse  and  shame.     Bnt;  thank  God,  I  have  no  dis- 
1  position  now,  to  injure,  any  man.     Several  gentlemen  of  the 

*  bar,  have  taken  advantage  of  my  religion,  more  than  once, 

*  when  I  fully  believed,  and  do  still  believe,  that  I  was  stating 

<  the  truth,  to  call  me  a  'liar.;     They  all  know  that  if  I  were 
i  a  sinner  like  themselves,  or  if  I  were  as  once  I  was,  they 
1  would  as  soon  have  eaten  coals  of  fire,  as  accused  me  to  my 
6  face  of  'lying.'    But  they  know  also,  that  my  nature  is  now 
'  changed,  and  that  my  religion,  and  my  dispositions  forbid 
4  my  retaliating  evil  for  evil:  I  thank  God  he  holds  the  reins 
'  of  my  passions  in  his  own  hand,  and  all  this  abuse  is  not 

<  suffered  to  make  me  angry.     I  receive  these  things  as  a  part 
1  of  that  persecution  with  which  I  have  laid  my  account  as 
1  the  portion  of  'all  who  will  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus.' " 

"Vye  would  gladly,  did  our  limits  permit,  introduce  much 
larger  portions  of  this  valuable  Memoir.  The  account  of  Mr. 
Bacon's  reflections  in  view  of  the  Ministry,  and  his  ultimate 
decision  to  devote  himself  to  this  work,  is  highly  interesting. 
He  was  ordained  a  Deacon  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  on  the  6th 
of  September,  1819.  He  devoted  himself  to  his  work  with 
the  zeal  of  an  Apostle.  He  immediately  entered,  for  a  few 
weeks,  into  the  service  of  the  Philadelphia  Bible  Society; 
and  in  the  brief  space  of  sixty-nine  days,  passed  through 
twenty-one  Counties  of  Pennsylvania,  preached  seventy-four 
discourses,  and  travelled  more  than  one  thousand  miles. 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  87 

In  January  1820,  he  visited  Washington,  and  received  his 
appointment  for  Africa.  He  had  been  long  a  warm  and  ac- 
tive friend  to  the  people  of  colour,  and  from  its  origin,  to  the 
American  Colonization  Society.* 

Having  visited  his  relatives  and  friends  in  Pennsylvania, 
for  the  last  time,  he  superintended  the  embarkation  of  the 
emigrants  at  New  York;  from  which  port,  he  sailed  on  the 
7th  of  February.  After  a  short  but  agreeable  visit  to  Sierra 
Leone,  he  proceeded  with  the  entire  company  of  emigrants 
to  Sherbro,  where  they  had  obtained  permission  to  reside  un- 
til an  eligible  site  for  the  proposed  Settlement,  could  be  pur- 
chased on  the  mainland.  It  was  soon  found  to  be  the  policy 
of  the  native  Chiefs,  to  embarrass  and  postpone  any  final  ne- 
gotiations for  lands,  that  they  might  compel  the  Agent  to  com- 
ply with  their  exorbitant  demands.  The  fever  seized  upon 
all  the  Agents,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Bacon,  and  became 
general  among  the  settlers.  His  situation,  at  this  crisis,  is 
thus  described : 

"To  a  person  placed  in  Mr.  Bacon's  circumstances,  at  this 
c  period,  and  actuated  by  his  disinterested  and  benevolent 
c  spirit,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed,  that  a  prudential  regard  for 
c  his  own  health  would  occur  with  sufficient  force,  to  occa- 
c  sion  any  relaxations  in  his  attentions  to  others.  The  fol- 
1  lowing  enumeration  of  duties  which  he  undertook  at  this 
{ time  daily  to  perform,  shows,  but  too  clearly,  that  he  im- 1 
{  posed  upon  himself,  a  task  to  which  human  strength  is  ut- 
c  terly  unequal.  Some  of  the  privations  and  labours  to 
c  which  he  submitted,  manifestly  appear  to  have  been  impru- 

*  Mr.  Bacon  had  for  several  years,  been  a  useful  member  of  the  Abolition 
Society  of  Pennsylvania.  His  benevolence  was,  however,  of  too  disinterest- 
ed a  character,  to  suffer  him  to  withhold  from  any  good  cause,  the  support 
and  patronage  which  he  could  afford  it.  At  an  early  period  of  the  operations 
of  the  Colonization  Society,  he  perceived  that  their  measures  were  inspired 
by  the  same  philanthropic  principle,  as  those  of  the  Abolition  Society;  and 
conceived  them  to  be  much  more  practicable,  more  systematic,  and  equally 
expansive  in  their  final  objects. — Jlshmun's  Life  of  Bacon,  p.  154. 


88  LIFE    OP   ASHMUN. 

1  dent  and  unnecessary.  But  it  would  be  improper  too  se- 
1  verely  to  censure  in  him  a  fault  which  few  besides  would  be 
1  liable  to  commit.  'Who  can  describe  the  burden  under 
1  which  I  am  obliged  to  struggle,  in  feeding  this  people, — en- 
'  during  their  complaints, — listening  to  their  tales  of  trouble, 
£  — inquiring  into  their  sufferings, — administering  medicine, 
c  — labouring  with  my  own  hands  in  building  houses  for 
{ them, — and  toiling  at  the  oar,  and  handling  casks,  in  un- 
c  loading  the  vessel  and  landing  the  goods  ! — In  addition  to  all 
c  this,  I  have  the  spiritual  concerns  of  the  whole  company  to 
1  look  after.  I  go  without  stockings,  entirely, — often  with- 
*  out  shoes; — scarcely  wear  a  hat,  and  am  generally  without 
c  a  coat; — I  am  up  early,  and  not  in  bed  until  ten,  or  eleven 
c  o'clock.  I  eat  little,  and  seldom  use  any  other  refreshments 
c  except  hard  ship-bread,  salt  meat  and  water.'  'I  labour 
{  more, — am  more  exposed  to  heat,  and  wet,  and  damp,  and 
c  hunger,  and  thirst,  than  any  one;  and  yet,  blessed  be  God, 
'  I  continue  in  health.'  'In  addition  to  all  this,  I  have  the 
(  weight  of  the  whole  interest  on  my  mind: — all  the  care, — 
t  all  the  responsibility,— all  the  anxiety.  But  God  be  praised, 
'  I  have  peace  within.'  'There  are  eight  entire  families  sick; 
1  amongst  whom  there  is  not  one  able  to  dress  his  own  food, 
4  or  wait  upon  a  child.  Oh  God,  who  can  help,  but  thou.' 

"  'Is  it  asked,  do  I  yet  say  'colonize  Africa?'  I  reply,  yes. 
'  He  that  has  seen  ninety  native  Africans  landed  together  in 
'  America,  and  remarked  the  effects  of  the  change  of  climate 
'  through  the  first  year,  has  seen  them  as  sickly  as  these. — 
1  Every  sudden  and  unnatural  transition  produces  illness.— 
'  The  surprising  fertility  of  the  African  soil,  the  mildness  of 
'  the  climate,  during  a  great  part  of  the  year,  the  numerous 
'  commercial  advantages,  the  stores  of  fish,  and  herds  of  ani- 
'  mals,tobe  found  here,  invite  her  scattered  children  home. — 
1  As  regards  myself,  I  counted  the  cost  of  engaging  in  this  ser- 
'  vice  before  I  left  America.  I  came  to  these  shores  to  die: 
'  and  any  thing  better  than  death  is  better  than  I  expect.'" 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  89 

In  the  midst  of  the  general  distress,  Mr.  Bacon  felt  the  ap- 
proaches of  disease. 

"He  distinctly  expressed  more  concern  on  account  of  the 
'  sufferings  of  the  people,  and  the  darkening  prospects  of  the 
1  enterprise,  than  on  account  of  his  own  illness.  In  contem- 
(  plating  his  own  death,  he  saw  little,  except  a  bright  and 
'  boundless  expanse  of  glory  piercing  with  its  light  the  gloom 
'  which  hung  over  the  dying  scene.  But  his  heart  was 
c  wrung  with  the  anticipation  of  the  event,  as  it  would  affect 
c  the  welfare  of  the  colonists,  and  the  success  of  the  expedi 
( tion.  On  this  theme  he  had  vented  his  feelings  in  the  most 
1  pathetic  language.  But  even  in  this  heaviest,  and  doubtless 
*  his  last  trial,  he  found  relief  by  a  vigorous  effort  of  faith  in 
1  the  mercy  of  God:  and  by  ultimately  confiding  in  the  wis- 
'  dom  and  righteousness  of  all  his  purposes." 

At  this  gloomy  period,  a  Schooner  belonging  to  the  Colo- 
nial Government  of  Freetown,  touched  at  Sherbro,  and  con- 
sented, at  the  request  of  Mr.  Bacon,  who  was  without  medical 
aid,  and  extremely  ill,  to  receive  him  on  board  the  next  morn- 
ing, and  convey  him  to  Sierra  Leone.  As  the  boat  contain- 
ing him  approached  this  vessel  at  the  appointed  time,  she 
hoisted  her  anchor,  and  put  to  sea.  He  attempted  to  over- 
take her,  but  it  was  impossible.  For  two  days,  was  he  expos- 
ed in  an  open  boat,  to  the  burning  rays  of  a  tropical  sun.  On 
the  evening  of  the  30th  of  April,  he  was  landed  at  Cape  Shil- 
ling, an  English  settlement,  and  very  hospitably  received  by 
Captain  William  Handle,  the  superintendent  of  the  station. 
But  no  kindness  could  save  him  from  the  stroke  of  death. — 
No  language  can  here  be  more  pertinent,  than  that  of  his  Biog- 
rapher. 

"During  the  next  day,  he  was  able  to  recline  for  short  in- 
1  tervals  on  a  sofa;  and  to  take  a  small  part  in  the  conversa- 
1  tion.  But  his  disorder  was  hastening  rapidly,  to  a  fatal  ter- 
c  mination.  He  perceived  it,  and  expressed  in  the  intervals 
1  of  his  sensibility,  his  acquiescence  in  the  sovereign  pleasure 

12 


90  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

*  of  God.     The  cause  in  which  he  had  embarked  retained  a 

*  strong  interest  in  his  affections,  to  the  last.     In  his  last  con- 
c  versation,  he  feebly  asked,  'Dear  Brother  Handle,  do  you  not 

1  think  we  have  happiness  reserved  that  will T     As  the 

'  interrogatory  was  unfinished,  the  gentleman  to  whom  it  was 
'  addressed,  did  not  immediately  reply:  when  Mr.  Bacon  con- 
'  tinued,  'What  do  you  say  to  my  question?'     A  hope  was 
'  then  expressed,  that  the  Saviour  would  reserve  for  both,  a 

*  happiness  which  should  abundantly  compensate  their  pres- 

*  ent  sufferings.     He  replied,  and  they  were  some  of  his  last 
'  words,   'Ah  !  that  is  all  I  want.' 

"This  last  effort  of  reason  and  speech,  took  place  about 
<  eleven  o'clock,  on  the  night  of  the  1st  of  May.  The  lan- 
'  guid  current  of  life  ebbed  gradually  away,  until  half  past 
'  four,  on  the  following  morning;  when  he  expired.  His  re- 
1  mains  were  interred  on  the  same  day,  in  the  burial  ground 
{  attached  to  the  church  in  the  settlement:  and  though  depos- 
1  ited  by  the  hands  of  strangers,  on  a  foreign  and  pagan 
1  shore,  they  rest  under  f.hp.  sure  protection  of  the  Christian's 
1  Saviour,  and  in  'the  certain  hope  of  a  glorious  resurrection.' 

"In  his  person,  Mr.  Bacon  was  tall;  the  structure  of  his 
'  frame  was  masculine,  and  rather  indicative  of  strength,  than 
1  characterised  by  symmetry  of  proportion.  His  features  were 
1  strongly  marked;  and  the  expression  of  his  countenance 
1  blended  an  interesting  pensiveness  with  the  lineaments  of  an 
1  intelligent  and  vigorous  mind.  His  attachments  were  ar- 
4  dent;  his  passions  quick  and  violent;  and  his  friendships 
1  affectionate  and  permanent.  He  was  impatient  of  opposi- 
'  tion,  rapid  in  his  movements,  and  determined  in  his  purpo- 
'  ses.  Inflexible  integrity,  unbounded  generosity,  and  a  sin- 
4  cerity  incapable  of  disguise,  run  through  the  entire  texture 
*  of  his  character. 

"His  learning  was  various;  and  his  taste  classical:  but  the 
1  first  was  not  profound;  nor  the  last  exact.  His  legal  ac- 
1  quirements  were  all  of  the  useful  kind;  his  standing  at 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  91 

*  the  bar  respectable;  and    his   professional    reputation    in- 

<  creasing. 

"By    regeneration,   every  constitutional  excellence    was 

<  heightened,  and  a  foundation  laid  for  those  pre-eminent  spir- 

<  itual  attainments,  in  which  he'  had  few  equals, — perhaps  no 

<  superiors.     His  zeal  has  been  seen  to  be  ardent;  his  devotion 
1  entire;  his  hopes,  elevated  to  sublimity;   and  his  faith  invin- 
1  cible.     The  love  'and  fear  of  God  tempered  together  in  just 
'  proportions,  formed  the  prevalent  feeling  of  his  heart;  his 
1  very  thoughts  were  prayer;  his  habit  of  obedience- to  the  di- 
£  vine  laws,  prompt  and  unhesitating;  and  his  'love  of  the 
1  Christian  brotherhood,  unfeigned.'     The  mystery  of  'God 

<  manifest  in  the  flesh,'  and  the  character,  work  and  offices  of 

<  the  Redeemer,  formed  the  theme  of  his  untiring  admiration, 
1  his  incessant  rejoicing,  his  increasing  gratitude,  and  his  high- 
1  est  praise.     In  the  service  of  such  a  Master,  enforced  by 
'  such  motives,  his  talents,  health,  and  life,  were  regarded  as 
{  infinitely  too  cheap  an  offering.     To  him,  they  were  all  de- 
1  liberately  consecrated:  for  Him,  they  were  all  cheerfully  re- 
1  signed.     And  his  memory  shall  be  blessed.     The  American 
'  church  will  long  cherish  it  with  affection:  and  it  shall  here- 
1  after  freshen  in  the  hearts  of  millions  in  another  hemis- 
'  phere,  when  the  work  in  which  he  fell  shall  have  its  con- 
'  summation,  in  the  civilization  of  Africa,  the  return  of  all 
1  her  exiles,  and  the  subjection  of  a  countless  population  to 
1  the  dominion  of  CHRIST. 

In  the  composition  of  this  work ,  Mr.  Ashmun  exhibited  re- 
markable diligence  and  self-control;  constantly  fortifying 
himself  by  the  exercise  of  his  intellectual  and  moral  facul- 
ties against  circumstances  well  adapted  to  break  his  spirit  and 
lay  its  honours  in  the  dust.  He  was  not  indifferent  or  insen- 
sible to  present  things;  but  felt  their  inferiority  to  those  of  the 
future:  nor  could  objects  finite,  brief,  perishing,  fill  that  eye, 
to  which  Faith  had  revealed  the  infinite  and  eternal  glories 
of  the  Spiritual  Universe. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

A  respected  friend,*  in  whose  family  Mr.  Ashmun  resided 
as  an  inmate  for  nearly  two  years,  in  Washington,  has  fa- 
voured me  with  the  following  observations  on  his  character 
and  habits,  and  particularly  as  these  were  evinced  in  his 
preparation  of  the  Life  of  Bacon  : 

"Mr.  Ashmun  was  naturally  of  a  weakly  constitution,  and 
1  predisposed  to  pulmonary  disease;  and  although  the  preser- 
1  vation  of  his  health  required  great  caution  and  prudence 

<  against  undue  labour  and  exposure  to  the  variable  climate 
'  and  weather  of  this  City,  yet  such  was  the  warmth  of  his 
'  zeal  in  the  prosecution  of  any  favourite  object,  and  such  his 
c  persevering  labours  in  surmounting  all  difficulties  in  his 
'  way,  that  the  very  exertions  which  he  put  forth  for  the  ac- 
*  complishment  of  his  purposes,  seemed  to  subserve  the  dou- 
'  ble  purpose  of  imparting  stimulus  to  his  weak  system,  and 
c  additional  fortitude  to  sustain  him  under  extraordinary  ef- 

<  forts. 

"In  proportion  to  the  magnitude  of  the  object  he  proposed 
' to  effect,  he  successfully  rallied  the  energies  of  his  mind 
'  and  body,  nor  relaxed  for  a  moment,  until  the  work  was 
1  done. 

"This  determination  of  purpose,  was  strikingly  manifested 
1  in  the  manner  and  circumstances  in  which  he  wrote  the 
'  Memoir  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Bacon. 

"He  had  been  requested,  by  the  brother  of  the  deceased,  to 
c  perform  this  arduous  task;  and  being  put  in  possession  of 
1  the  necessary  documents  for  that  purpose,  he  entered  upon 
1  the  execution  of  it,  with  all  that  ardour  and  unyielding  per- 
1  severance  so  peculiar  to  his  character. 

"After  he  had  arranged  the  materials  for  the  work,  he  used 
'  often  to  shut  himself  in  his  room,  and  for  days  could  be 
1  seen  only  at  his  meals.  And  more, — during  the  short  days 
<  of  winter,  rather  than  be  interrupted  by  a  regular  atten- 

*  The  Rev.  William  Hawloy. 


JLIFE   OP   ASHMUN.  93 

*  dance  on  the  meals  of  the  family,  he  would  often  direct  the 
c  servant  to  prepare  him  a  cold  collation  for  the  day;  and  by 
1  the  dawn  of  the  morning,  whether  there  were  rain,  hail,  or 
(  sunshine,  be  on  his  way  to  his  study,  on  Pennsylvania  Ave- 

<  nue.  (about  half  a  mile  distant)  where  he  would  remain  un- 

*  til  ten  at  night,  unceasingly  occupied  in  the  work,  in  which 
(  he  had  engaged. 

"He  had  at  this  time  charge  of  the  'Washington  Theologi- 

<  cal  Repertory;'  in  the  Editorial  department  of  which,  he 

<  took  an  active  part,  and  furnished  many  important  and  use- 
'  ful  papers.     As  a  scholar  and  author,  there  was  something 
i  very  peculiar  in  his  composition  and  preparation  for  the 
1  press.     He  always  wrote  very  fast,  and  sometimes  very  con- 

<  fusedly;  throwing  upon  paper,  as  it  were,  the  first  concep- 
{ tions  of  his  mind  on  the  subject:  and  he  then  revised  and  re- 

<  viewed,  cut  and  carved  it  to  suit  his  taste,  often  transposing 
c  whole  sentences  and  paragraphs,  and  erasing  and  interlin- 
1  ing  to  an  incredible  extent.    He  erased  and  corrected  more 

*  than  any  person  I  have  known.*    The  manuscript  papers  of 
6  the  Memoir  now  in  my  possession,  are  a  great  curiosity. 

"In  his  intercourse  with  the  family,  he  was  uniformly 
f  kind,  affectionate  and  courteous,  and  left  on  the  minds  of 
1  all,  an  impression  highly  favourable  to  his  general  worth 
'  and  excellence  of  character." 

Of  this  Memoir,  two  thousand  copies  were  published;  dis- 
tinguished Clergymen  recommended  the  work;  Mr.  Ashmun 
visited  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  and  attempted 
to  dispose  of  it;  but  the  sales  were  very  limited,  and  the  Au- 
thor found  to  his  regret,  that  the  effort  from  which  he  had 
expected  relief,  had  increased  his  difficulties.  He  now  felt 
the  pressure  of  heavy  debts  on  account  of  the  Repertory, 

*  We  think  this  remark  must  be  limited  to  his  earlier  productions  for  the 
press,  since  most  of  his  Journals  written  in  Africa  exhibit  few  alterations.  He 
was  not  easily  satisfied  with  his  own  works,  and  was  constantly  disciplining 
his  mind  for  greater  objects  than  he  had  yet  achieved. 


94  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

which  from  its  origin  he  had  sought  rather  to  render  able 
and  useful,  than  of  advantage  to  himself. 

A  misunderstanding  between  him  and  the  gentlemen,  his 
associates  in  superintending  the  publication,  relating  to  its  pe- 
cuniary management,  exposed  his  conduct  to  suspicion, 
and  added  to  the  perplexity  of  his  affairs.  Reserved  both 
by  inclination  and  habit  on  matters  of  private  concern, 
he  perhaps  sometimes  was  silent,  when  he  should  have  made 
explanation;  and  while  acting  in  his  integrity,  forgot  what 
discretion  would  have  dictated,  as  due  to  the  opinions  of  oth- 
ers. A  failure  to  meet  engagements  for  the  Repertory  might, 
it  was  thought,  injure  the  entire  character  of  the  work,  since 
the  separation  of  the  pecuniary  and  Editorial  responsibilities, 
and  their  independence  of  each  other,  had  doubtless,  escaped 
generally,  public  attention.  The  disapprobation  of  friends, 
the  reproaches  of  creditors,  and  worse  than  either,  a  convic- 
tion that  it  was  impossible  for  him,  in  the  situation  he  then 
occupied,  speedily  to  extricate  himself  from  embarrassment, 
were  bitter  ingredients  in  his  daily  cup.  But  he  bowed  his 
head  to  no  useless  sorrow.  He  was  calm,  uncomplaining, 
and  active.  He  knew  that  to  seek  sympathy,  is  generally  to 
lose  in  respect,  more  than  is  gained  in  compassion;  and  that 
for  a  wounded  spirit,  the  only  remedy  is  divine.  No  mortal 
eye  can  penetrate  those  deep  and  secret  places  of  the  heart, 
where  griefs  spring  up  and  are  nourished  from  the  very  foun- 
tains of  life.  Some  such  were  rooted,  perhaps,  in  the  soul  of 
Ashmun.*  Some  barbed  thoughts  were  there,  some  dark  ima- 

i 

*  On  one  of  the  leaves  of  his  Journal,  we  find  the  following  lines : 
There  lives  on  earth  a  form,  whose  name 

Deep  in  this  heart  must  buried  rest ; 
Whose  lov'd  remembrance  pours  a  flame 

Of  wasting  anguish  thro'  my  breast : 
A  strong  enchantment  wraps  the  scene, 

Though  mem'ry  views  it  with  despair ; 
Nor  floods  nor  mountains  stretchM  between, 

Nor  time  arrests  its  visits  there. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


95 


ginings  of  perished  hope  and  broken  joys,  some  gentle  echoes 
of  a  voice  now  dead,  some  gleams  reflected  from  a  sun  now  set, 
but  they  were  buried  in  his  bosom  alone,  as  in  the  vaults  of  a 
sepulchre.  He  braced  his  soul  for  duty;  he  walked  be- 
fore men,  as  one  who  was  with  them  for  high  purposes;  he 
sought  help  from  God,  and  confided  in  his  Providence:  and 
like  the  Father  of  the  faithful,  called  to  go  out  from  his  coun- 
try and  kindred,  he  obeyed,  and  went  out,  not  knowing 
whither  he  went. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


As  Christians,  we  cannot  doubt,  that  the  Almighty,  in  the 
permission  of  great  moral  evils  and  the  miseries  which  ensue, 
not  less  than  in  the  provision  and  application  of  their  appropri- 
ate remedies,  designs  to  teach  His  people  salutary  lessons,  and 
discipline  them  for  their  immortal  state.  In  the  fury  of  human 
passions,  the  concussions  and  convulsions  of  human  society 
is  seen  the  nature  of  vice;  while  in  the  calm  pursuits  and 
meek  and  united  devotions  of  a  happy  people,  stands  in  con- 
trast the  mighty  principle  of  virtue, — both  illustrating  by  their 
opposite  effects,  the  benevolence  and  justice  of  the  Divine  Go- 
vernment. History  reports  the  trial  of  human  nature, 
of  all  gradations  of  intellectual  advancement,  in  all  countries, 
circumstances  and  times.  And  by  the  experience  of  ages,  are 
we  taught  to  centre  in  the  Christian  Religion,  all  our  hopes 
of  the  permanent  peace,  liberty  and  happiness  of  mankind. 

Slavery  existed  among  all  the  nations  of  antiquity;  the 

13 


98  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

right  of  the  victor  to  the  person  or  even  to  the  life  of  the  van- 
quished, universally  admitted  in  ancient  times,  was  its  main 
source;  it  increased  with  the  growth  of  nations  and  the  mul- 
tiplication of  wars,  until  in  the  Roman  Empire,  during  her 
most  powerful  period,  one  half  (sixty  millions)  of  her  popula- 
tion, wore  the  yoke  of  a  cruel  and  ignominious  bondage.  In 
the  less  civilized  nations  of  Europe,  a  policy  more  humane 
than  the  Roman,  could  not  be  expected;  and  the  institution  of 
slavery  every  where  prevailed  among  those  who  finally  inva- 
ded the  Territories,  dissolved  the  Government,  and  shared 
among  themselves  the  vast  dominions  of  Rome. 

Christianity  though  designed  and  adapted  to  introduce  per- 
fect principles  of  benevolence  into  universal  society;  to  reme- 
dy its  moral  evils  by  the  gentlest  process;  to  mould  its  In- 
stitutions into  the  noblest  forms,  and  control  them  by  the 
best  spirit;  encountered  the  pride,  selfishness  and  obdu- 
racy of  the  human  heart;  all  the  combinations  of  established 
interest,  authority  and  power.  When  we  consider  that  this 
Religion  made  her  way,  not  by  force,  but  persuasion;  that  she 
sought  dominion  only  over  the  reason,  conscience  and  will 
of  man;  accepted  an  imperfect,  if  a  sincere  obedience;  wrought 
to  improve  the  whole  character  and  condition  of  mankind, 
not  by  the  violence  of  sudden  revolution,  but  by  the  regenera- 
tion of  individual  souls;  by  the  insinuation  of  right  princi- 
ples and  the  infusion  of  a  pure  spirit  into  the  general 
mass,  we  cannot  be  surprised  that  slavery  should  have  long 
withstood  her  power.  Yet,  from  the  first,  "the  humane 
spirit  of  this  Religion  struggled  with  the  maxims  and 
manners  of  the  world,  and  contributed  more  than  any 
other  circumstance,  to  introduce  the  practice  of  manu- 
mission."* The  friends  of  man  can  never  thunder  forth  too 
frequently  nor  too  loudly,  in  the  ears  of  those  who  would 
quote  Scripture  in  justification  of  slavery;  that  it  was  Chris- 

*  Robertson. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  99 

tianity  which  ameliorated  the  condition  of  slaves  under  the 
Roman  Government;  inclined  Constantine  to  render  their 
manumission  much  easier  than  formerly;  and  which,  "in 
conformity  with  its  principles,  claims  the  merit  of  having 
gone  farthest  towards  the  abolition  of  this  debasing  institu- 
tion," throughout  nearly  all  Europe.  "In  the  opinion  of 

<  Grotius,  it  was  the  great  and  almost  the  only  cause  of  aboli- 
*  tion.     The  professed  and  assigned  reasons  for  most  of  the 
'  charters  of  manumissions,   from  the  time  of  Gregory  the 
1  Great,  to  the  thirteenth  century,  were  the  religious  and  pious 
«  considerations  of  the  fraternity  of  men,  the  imitation  of  the 

<  example  of  Christ,  the  love  of  our  Maker  and  the  hope  of 
4  redemption.   Enfranchisement  was  frequently  given  upon  a 
1  death-bed,  as  the  most  acceptable  service  that  could  be  offered; 
'  and  when  the  sacred  character  of  the  Priesthood  came  to 
1  obtain  more  universal  veneration,  to  assume  its  functions, 
1  was  the  immediate  passport  to  freedom."* 

*  The  following  extracts  from  Ward's  Law  of  Nations,  are  too  interesting 
to  be  omitted : 

"We  have  seen  in  a  former  chapter,  the  universal  existence  of  slavery  dur- 
ing the  earlier  ages,  and  it  was  shown  to  be  chiefly  owing  to  the  efforts  of 
Christianity,  that  the  institution  was  abolished.  In  the  attempt  to  effectuate 
the  abolition,  and  the  success  which  in  the  end  attended  it,  we  have  a  full  proof 
of  the  general  influence  of  this  religion  upon  the  mind,  since  no  passage  of 
the  New  Testament,  has  absolutely  forbidden  the  custom;  and  it  is  merely, 
therefore,  from  the  spirit  of  the  system  of  morality  there  displayed,  that  men 
collected  what  ought  to  be  their  conduct  in  this  respect.  Commanded  to  look 
upon  all  mankind  as  their  brethren,  it  wanted  little  combination  of  the  reason- 
ing faculties,  to  discover  that  it  was  incompatible  with  such  an  injunction,  to 
hold  them  in  chains,  exclusive  of  the  benevolent  effects  upon  the  heart,  which 
this  religion  was  calculated,  generally  to  produce,  and  which,  when  produced, 
did  that  from  analogy,  which  was  not  expressly  commanded.  After  this,  and 
what  was  said  in  the  beginning  of  this  section,  it  is  of  little  consequence  toob- 
jectthat  the  custom  of  slavery  remained  for  a  great  length  of  time,  or  that  the 
church  itself  was  possessed  of  numbers  of  slaves.  We  have  shown  that  the 
custom  of  enfranchisement,  was  the  effect,  chiefly,  of  pious  and  Christian  mo- 
tives, and  that  the  example  was  generally  set  by  the  ministers  of  religion. 
No  law,  it  must  be  owned,  is  to  be  met  with,  by  which  the  custom  was  abolish- 


100  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

While  beneath  the  light  and  power  of  Christianity,  the 
last  vestiges  of  slavery  were  well  nigh  effaced  from  the  soil 
of  Christendom;  the  African  slave  trade  arose,  which,  wheth- 
er regarded  as  productive  of  crime  or  misery,  stands  an  evil 
unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  the  world.  That  nations  which 
from  considerations  of  humanity  and  piety,  had  abolished 
slavery,  should  lend  their  sanction  to  this  atrocious  com- 
merce, would  be  inexplicable,  did  we  not  recollect  the  new 
World  just  brought  to  light  by  the  genius  of  Columbus,  and 
that  the  temptations  of  gain  in  supplying  labourers  for  her 
vast  and  fertile  fields,  overcame  alike  the  remonstrances  of 
reason  and  of  conscience. 

Early  in  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Portuguese  under  au- 
thority from  the  Pope,  explored  the  African  coast,  planted 
colonies,  and  reduced  the  Africans  to  slavery.  Their  exam- 

ed  all  at  once,  nor  could  such  a  law  have  ever  been  justified:  I  do  not  mean 
on  account  of  the  claims  of  the  rights  of  property,  (which  if  they  are  incom- 
patible with  divine  institutions,  should  never  be  so  much  considered  as  to  re- 
tard their  effect)  but  on  the  principles  of  the  very  benevolence,  which  it  was 
meant  to  consult;  for  the  men  who  would  have  been  the  object  of  it,  being  thus 
thrown  suddenly  on  the  world,  without  protection  or  the  means  of  support, 
would  have  been  put  in  a  worse  condition  than  they  were  in  before.  It  must 
be  owned,  also,  that  avarice,  and  the  love  of  absolute  dominion,  might  have 
thrown  considerable  obstacles  in  the  way  of  abolition.  When  Suarez 
marks  the  difference  which  he  very  justly  holds,  between  the  law  of  nature, 
and  the  law  of  nations,  he  adduces  among  other  proofs,  the  abolition  of  slavery 
as  arising  from  the  positive  institutions  of  the  Christian  church. 

But  nothing  on  this  subject  can  be  more  forcible  than  the  language  of  the 
learned  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  speaking  of  bondage  and  bondmen: — "Howbeit," 
says  he,  "since  our  realme  hath  received  the  Christian,  which  maketh  us  all  in 
Christ  brethren,  and  in  respect  of  God  and  Christ  conservos;  men  beganne,  to 
have  conscience,  to  hold  in  captivitie  and  such  extreme  bondage,  him  whom  they 
must  acknowledge  to  be  their  brother;  and  as  wee  used  to  terme  him  Christian; 
that  is,  who  looketh  in  Christ,  and  by  Christ,  to  have  equal  portion  with  them 
in  the  gospel  and  salvation.  Upon  this  scruple,  the  holy  fathers  and  friars,  in 
their  confessions,  and-specially  in  their  extreme  and  deadly  sicknesses,  burthen- 
ed  the  consciences  of  them  whom  they  had  in  their  hands;  so  that  temporal 
men,  by  little  and  little,  by  reason  of  that  terror  in  their  conscience,  were  glad 
to  manumitte  all  their  villaines.' " — Prom  Ward's  Law  of  Nations. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  101 

pie  excited  all  the  maritime  powers  of  Europe  to  engage  in 
the  slave  trade,  which  soon  became  a  source  of  wealth  and  a 
subject  for  negotiation  between  nations,  and  which  prosecuted 
for  three  centuries,  is  believed  to  have  consigned  more  than 
twenty  millions  of  unfortunate  Africans  to  bondage  or  death.* 
Among  the  circumstances  of  this  trade,  are  found  whatev- 
er is  dark  in  treachery,  or  odious  in  cruelty,  or  horrible  in 
war;  whatever  afflicts  the  body  or  degrades  and  tortures  the 
mind;  in  fine,  whatever  has  been  feared  or  imagined  of  evil 
in  the  cup  of  human  life.t 

*  "The  wholesome  decrees  of  five  successive  Roman  Pontiffs  granted,  con- 
veyed and  confirmed  to  the  most  faithful  King  a  right  to  appropriate  the 
kingdoms,  goods  and  possessions  of  all  infidels,  wherever  to  he  found,  to  re- 
duce their  persons  to  perpetual  slavery,  or  destroy  them  from  the  earth,  for  the 
declared  purpose  of  bringing  the  Lord's  sheep  into  one  dominical  fold,  under 
one  universal  Pastor.  *  *  *  We  suppose,  then,  that  eight  millions  of 
slaves  have  been  shipped  in  Africa  for  the  West  India  Islands  and  the  United 
States;  ten  millions  for  South  America  and  perhaps  two  millions  have  been  ta- 
ken and  held  in  slavery  in  Africa.  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  have 
shipped  about  five  millions,  France  two,  Holland  and  other  nations  one;  though 
we  undertake  not  to  state  the  proportion  with  exactness.  The  other  twelve 
millions  we  set  to  Portugal.  Twenty  million  slaves  at  £30  sterling  each, 
amount  to  the  commercial  value  of  £600,000,000.  Six  hundred  limes  ten 
hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling  trafficintlie  SOULS  OF  MEN. 

"By  whom  hath  this  commerce  been  opened,  and  so  long  and  ardently  pur- 
sued? The  subjects  of  their  most  Faithful,  most  Catholic,  most  Christian,  most 
Protestant  Majesties,  defenders  of  the  faith;  and  by  the  citizens  of  the  most  re- 
publican States,  with  the  sanction  of  St.  Peter's  successor." — Dr.  James  Dana's 
Discourse  on  the  African  Slave  trade,  1790. 

|  "Freighted  with  curses  was  the  Bark  that  bore 
The  Spoilers  of  the  West  to  Guinea's  shore ; 
Heavy  with  groans  of  anguish  blew  the  gales 
That  swell'd  that  fatal  bark's  returning  sails." 
"Loud  and  perpetual  o'er  the  Atlantic  waves, 
For  guilty  ages,  roll'd  the  tide  of  Slaves ; 
A  tide  that  knew  no  fall,  no  turn,  no  rest, — 
Constant  as  day  and  night  from  East  to  West, 
Still  wid'ning,  deep'ning,  swelling  in  its  course 
With  boundless  ruin  and  resistless  force." — MONTGOMERY. 


102  LIFE    OP   ASHMUN. 

At  an  early  period,  and  under  the  authority  of  English  law, 
slaves  were  introduced  into  the  American  colonies;  in  some 
cases,  in  utter  disregard  of  remonstrances  addressed  by  the 
people  of  those  colonies,  to  the  Parliament  and  the  Throne. 

Slavery  grew  with  our  growth;  it  soon  became  interwoven 
with  all  the  interests  and  habits  of  society;  and  our  fathers  at 
the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary  contest,  found  the 
evil  too  deep-rooted,  extensive  and  complicated,  to  admit,  in 
their  judgment,  at  that  season  of  peril  to  their  own  liberties, 
of  a  remedy.  They  felt  that  it  was  an  institution  at  variance 
with  their  whole  political  creed;  that  morally  wrong  in  its 
origin,  it  could  be  perpetuated  only  by  the  violation  of  all 
justice  and  in  contempt  of  all  charity;  but  they  consoled  them- 
selves by  the  reflection  that  it  had  been  forced  upon  them, 
and  that  while  the  removal  of  it  suddenly,  in  that  time  of 
general  agitation  and  distress,  was  impossible,  it  might  be  ef- 
fected (should  their  independence  be  secured)  during  a  calm 
and  prosperous  state  of  the  public  affairs. 

They  perceived  however,  that  even  then  homage  was  due  to 
consistency  of  principle  and  to  the  general  opinion  of  mankind. 

"The  confederated  colonies  did  not  confine  themselves  to 
'  the  assertion  of  the  broadest  theory  of  political  rights;  they 
'  descanted  upon  the  topics  of  philanthropy  and  universal  jus- 
4  tice,  of  Christian  charity  and  humility;  and  in  reproaching 
'  the  mother  country  with  the  contrariety  between  her  prac- 
1  tice  and  professions,  with  her  insensibility  to  human  suffering 
'  and  degradation,  they  took  credit  to  themselves  for  the  re- 
*  verse.  It  was  in  alleged  pursuance  of  those  high  considera- 
( tions  and  pretensions  to  which  I  have  adverted,  that  their 
(  Delegates  in  Congress,  without  being  specially  empowered, 
'  passed  and  promulgated  several  months  before  the  Declara- 
1  tion  of  Independence,  (6th  April,  1776,)  a  resolution  that  no 
1  slaves  should  be  imported  into  any  partof  the  confederation."* 

*  Free  Remarks  on  the  spirit  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  Philadelphia,  1819. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  103 

The  ordinance  of  1787,  prohibiting  slavery  or  involunta- 
ry servitude  in  the  North-west  Territory;  the  restriction  of 
the  right  to  recover  therefrom  fugitive  slaves  to  the  original 
States;  the  exclusion  of  the  word  slave  from  the  Constitution; 
the  early  enactments  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade; 
the  delegation  by  the  Constitution  to  Congress  of  the  power 
to  regulate  the  commerce  between  the  States;*  and  the  record- 
ed sentiments  of  many  of  the  great  men  who  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  our  National  Government,  all  show  a  desire  to  con- 
fine slavery  within  the  smallest  possible  limits;  to  adapt  le- 
gislative measures  in  such  manner  as  to  extend  the  funda- 

*  The  Constitution  declares  "that  the  migration  or  importation  of  such  per- 
sons as  any  of  the  States,  now  existing,  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be 
prohibited  by  the  Congress,  prior  to  the  year  1808."  It  is  most  manifest  that 
the  Constitution  does  contemplate,  in  the  very  terms  of  this  clause,  that  Con- 
gress possess  the  authority  to  prohibit  the  migration  or  importation  of  slaves; 
for  it  limits  the  exercise  of  this  authority  for  a  specific  period  of  time,  leaving 
it  to  its  full  operation  ever  afterwards.  And  this  power  seems  necessarily  in- 
cluded in  the  authority  which  belongs  to  Congress  "to  regulate  commerce 
with  foreign  nations  and  among  the  several  States."  No  person  has  ever  doubt- 
ed that  the  prohibition  of  the  foreign  slave  trade  was  completely  within  the  au- 
thority of  Congress,  since  the  year  1808.  And  why  ?  Certainly  only  be- 
cause it  is  embraced  in  the  regulation  of  foreign  commerce;  and  if  so  it  may  for 
the  like  reason  be  prohibited  since  that  period,  between  the  States. 

Commerce  in  slaves  since  the  year  1808,  being  as  much  subject  to  the  regu- 
lation of  Congress  as  any  other  commerce,  if  it  should  see  fit  to  enact  that  no 
slave  should  ever  be  sold  from  one  State  to  another,  it  is  not  perceived  how  its 
constitutional  right  to  make  such  provision  could  be  questioned. — Memorial 
(reported  by  Daniel  Webster  and  others)  of  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  to  Con- 
gress, 1819. 

"Mr.  Madison  stated,  in  the  Virginia  Convention,  that  the  restriction  upon 
Congress,  in  regard  to  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade,  was  a  "restraint  on 
the  exercise  of  a  power  expressly  delegated  to  Congress,  namely,  that  of  regu- 
lating commerce  with  foreign  nations."  Governor  Randolph  made  the  same 
allegation  (p.  428,  Virginia  Debates).  The  general,  act  of  Congress  of  1807, 
suppressing  the  slave  trade,  shows  a  sense  of  an  entire  control  over  the  domes- 
tic commerce  in  slaves,  by  the  regulations  which  it  makes  respecting  their 
transportation  coastwise.  The  exception  made  in  favor  of  internal  transpor- 
tation would  have  been  wholly  superfluous,  had  not  a  constitutional  power 
been  felt  to  exist."— Free  Remarks,  $c. 


104  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

mental  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty;  to  express  a 
deep  sense  of  the  importance  of  those  principles;  and  finally, 
to  lend  no  sanction,  even  by  a  word,  to  the  morality  of  a  sys- 
tem, which  long  established  in  some  of  the  States,  (free  and 
independent  up  to  the  time  when  the  Union  was  formed)  it 
was  necessary  to  recognize,  but  not  to  approve. 

It  is  a  subject  for  everlasting  regret,  that  public  sentiment 
in  some  States  (particularly  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia)* 
at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  was 
unprepared  to  accede  to  the  immediate  abolition  of  the  slave 
trade;t  or  to  measures  for  the  ultimate  removal  of  slavery; 
objects  then  desired  by  a  large  portion  of  the  American  peo- 
ple, neither,  at  that  time,  difficult  of  accomplishment,  and  which 
are  now  known  to  have  been  demanded  by  a  wise  regard  to 
the  public  interest,  as  well  as  the  more  solemn  considerations 
of  national  duty. 

The  Federal  Constitution  was  the  result  of  a  compromise 
between  the  North  and  the  South.  "The  Southern  States," 
said  Mr.  Madison,  "would  not  have  entered  into  the  union  of 
'  America,  without  the  temporary  permission  of  the  slave 
1  trade."  When  the  Constitution  was  submitted,  the  great 
question  to  be  decided,  was,  whether  a  union  on  such  terms 
were  as  satisfactory  to  the  several  States  concerned,  as  would 

*  The  two  States  mentioned  in  the  text,  Georgia  and  South  Carolina,  were 
particularly  averse  to  any  interference  with  the  slave  trade,  on  the  part  of  the 
Federal  Government.  In  the  convention  most  of  the  States  were  anxious  to 
insert  a  provision  authorizing  the  immediate  total  abolition  of  the  diabolical 
traffic.  This  was  resisted,  peremptorily  by  the  two  just  mentioned;  and  the 
compromise  was  at  length  effected,  which  is  found  in  the  ninth  section  of  the 
first  article  of  the  Constitution. — Free  Remarks,  $c. 

f  Alluding  to  the  restraint  put  upon  the  prohibition  of  this  trade  by  the 
Constitution,  a  Society  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  Baltimore,  in  their  ad- 
dress to  Congress  in  1791,  hold  the  following  language  : 

"Whilst  we  deem  this  restraint  a  temporary  sanction  to  the  partial  infraction 
of  the  rights  of  man,  recognized  by  the  laws  of  some  of  the  States  and  so  far 
a  defect  in  the  noble  structure  of  our  liberties,  yet  such  is  our  regard  to  the 
original  solemn  compact  of  society,  that  we  solicit  no  deviation  from  the  prin- 
ciples established  by  it." 


LIFE    OF   ASHMUN.  105 

produce  a  preponderating  good  ?  The  States  being  all  free 
and  independent,  no  one  could,  in  any  sense,  be  answerable 
for  any  injustice  in  the  legal  code  of  another;  nor  can  we  per- 
ceive that  the  law  of  conscience  could,  independent  of  cir- 
cumstances, impose  an  obligation  upon  a  State,  in  which 
there  was  no  legalized  injustice  to  refuse  to  unite  for  purpo- 
ses of  general  utility,  with  a  State  in  which  th*e  existence  of 
such  injustice  could  not  be  denied. 

At  the  time  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  estab- 
lished, the  necessities  of  our  country  urgently  demanded  a 
new  form  of  Government.  Unanimity  in  the  adoption  of  it 
was  justly  considered  as  a  matter  of  the  first  importance. — 
Many  of  those  who  gave  their  support  to  the  Constitution, 
while  they  saw  with  regret,  that  it  recognized  moral  wrong 
in  the  laws  of  some  of  the  States,  felt  that  circumstances  were 
imperious,  and  did  it  with  the  hope  and  belief,  that  the  Na- 
tional Union  would  favour  the  cause  of  general  liberty;  and 
that  the  system  of  slavery  would  be  abolished  at  no  distant 
period,  in  all  the  States,  either  by  the  sense  of  duty,  the  influ- 
ence of  example,  the  inducement  of  interest,  or  by  all  com- 
bined. They  could  not  believe  that  the  eyes  of  any  free  and 
Christian  community,  especially  in  this  country,  could  long 
be  closed  to  that  light  of  truth  beginning  even  then  to  be 
widely  diffused,  which  revealed  the  utter  condemnation  of 
slavery  as  a  permanent  institution.  But  they  felt,  that  the 
main  responsibility  touching  this  subject,  was  with  those 
States  who  reserved  to  themselves  the  sovereign  and  exclu- 
sive right  to  regulate  and  control  it  within  their  respective 
limits. 

It  deserves  notice,  that  in  the  year  1776,  memorable 
on  account  of  the  Declaration  of  our  National  Independence, 
a  motion  was  made  in  the  British  House  of  Commons  to  this 
purport, — that  the  slave  trade  is  contrary  to  the  laws  of  God 
and  the  rights  of  man.  It  is  remarkable,  likewise,  that  the 

year  1787  gave  establishment  both  to  our  Federal  Constitu- 

14 


106  LIFE    OF    ASIIMUN. 

tion,  and  to  the  Committee  in  London  for  the  abolition  of  the 
slave  trade;  that  during  this  year  the  foundations  of  the  Si- 
erra Leone  Colony  were  laid,  and  that  through  the  efforts  of 
Anthony  Benezet  and  others,  it  could  then  first  be  said,  that 
"not  a  single  slave  remained  in  possession  of  any  acknow- 
1  ledged  Quaker  in  America."* 

The  spirit  of  the  reformation  was  the -spirit  of  freedom. — 
From  the  time  when  the  Bible  was  sent  forth  in  a  popular  lan- 
guage, this  spirit  began  to  revive  in  Europe;  and  immediate- 
ly before  our  Revolution,  the  advocates  of  universal  humani- 
ty and  general  liberty,  had  by  their  writings  made  a  deep  im- 
pression upon  the  public  mind  in  England  and  America.— 
Their  divinely  tempered  weapons  from  the  armory  of  God, 
threw  the  brightness  of  the  sun  into  the  dark  mazes  and  de- 
fences of  political  wickedness,  and  the  strong  holds  cf  des- 
potic power. 

It  should  be  engraven  upon  our  memories,  that  some  of 
the  main  principles,  relied  on  by  our  fathers,  to  justify  their 
National  Independence,  were  the  same  relied  on  (not  in  vain) 
to  overthrow  the  slave  trade,  and  which  the  friends  of  man 
have  long  regarded  as  of  sufficient  power,  gradually,  to  sub- 
vert and  destroy  all  institutions  limiting  the  intelligence,  de- 
basing the  character,  or  darkening  the  hopes  of  men. 

"If  (said  Congress,  July  6th,  1775,  in  setting  forth  the 
causes  for  war  against  the  parent  country)  "it  were  possible 
1  for  men  who  exercise  their  reason  to  believe,  that  the  Divine 
1  Author  of  our  existence  intended  a  part  of  the  human  race 
1  to  hold  an  absolute  property  in,  and  unbounded  power  over 
1  others,  marked  out  by  infinite  goodness  and  wisdom  as  the 
1  objects  of  a  legal  domination,  never  rightfully  resistable, 
1  however  severe  and  oppressive,  the  inhabitants  of  these  colo- 
c  nies  might  at  least  require  from  the  Parliament  of  Great 
'  Britain,  some  evidence  that  this  dreadful  authority  over 
'  them;  has  been  granted  to  that  Body. 

*  Life  of  Granville  Sharp. 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  107 

"But  a  reverence  for  our  great  Creator,  principles  of  hu- 

*  manity  and  the  dictates  of  common  sense,  must  convince 

<  all  those  who  reflect  upon  the  subject,  that  Government  was 

<  instituted  to  promote  the  welfare  of  mankind,  and  ought  to 

*  be  administered  for  the  attainment  of  that  end." 

The  great  truth  briefly  expressed  by  our  Saviour,  that  be- 
tween man  and  man,  in  all  possible  circumstances,  there  [ex- 
ists the  obligation  of  a  reciprocal  benevolence — a  benevo- 
lence not  occasional  and  narrow,  but  constant  and  large  as 
self-love,  gleams  forth  from  the  discussions  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary period  as  an  acknowledged  general  light  and  law  of 
humanity  exactly  adapted  to  produce  all  that  happiness 
among  men,  which  can  consist  with  our  present  physical 
condition  and  the  arrangements  and  ordinations  of  Provi- 
dence. 

Motives  of  interest  and  duty  conspired  to  hasten  the  abo- 
lition of  slavery  in  several  of  the  Northern  States;  and  the 
growing  sense  of  humanity  and  religion  produced  numerous 
manumissions  in  the  States  of  the  South,  so  that  a  class  of  free 
people  of  colour  arose  and  greatly  increased.  Few  in  num- 
bers compared  with  the  whites;  distinguished  from  them  by 
complexion,  but  allied  thereby,  and  by  habits  and  recollec- 
tions to  the  slaves;  poor  and  uneducated,  and  frequently  ex- 
posed to  the  "contempt  of  the  proud,"  though  legally  free, 
they  realize  the  entanglements  of  a  degrading  and  rigorous 
bondage.  Not  only  prejudices,  but  circumstances,  and  the 
very  state  of  society  are  against  them.  Worthless  is  all  li- 
berty which  neither  frees  the  spirit,  improves  the  condition, 
nor  raises  the  character.  It  is  not  by  a  criminal  prejudice 
alone  that  the  man  of  colour  is  here  depressed.  But  were 
this  the  sole  cause  against  him,  as  it  derives  continuance,  if 
not  origin  from  his  condition  and  character,  to  improve  these 
is  the  way  to  destroy  it,  and  the  mode  by  which  the  improve- 
ment of  both,  can  be  rendered  most  easy,  rapid,  and  exten- 
sive, is  that  prescribed  by  benevolence  to  the  African  race. 


108  LIFE    OF   ASHMUN. 

Towards  this  unfortunate  race,  the  spirit  of  humanity  has 
been  increasing  since  before  the  American  Revolution,  in 
most  parts  of  the  civilized  world;  and  the  enactment  of  laws 
by  all  Christian  nations  against  the  slave  trade,  proves  with 
what  power  and  success,  the  advocates  of  truth  and  justice, 
have  urged  their  affecting  claims  in  behalf  of  Africa  and  her 
children  upon  the  view  and  moral  sense  of  mankind.  Al- 
ready has  England  blown  the  trumpet  of  jubilee  for  eight 
hundred  thousand  slaves,  whose  shouts  of  rejoicing  have 
gone  up  to  Heaven,  from  Islands,  where  nature,  dressed  in 
loveliness,  has  long  seemed  to  endure  with  indignant  and 
saddened  countenance,  the  crimes  and  outrage  of  oppression.* 

No  human  commendation  can  be  a  just  tribute  of  respect 
to  the  Society  of  Friends  for  their  foremost  stand  against  the 
slave  trade,  and  for  those  solemn  tones  in  which  they  have  con- 
tinued annually  to  speak  out,  and  warn  the  rulers  of  Chris- 
tendom to  cease  from  a  policy,  beneath  which  thousands  were 
perishing  in  despair,  while  their  cries  pierced  the  ear  of  Heav- 
en and  invoked  the  wrath  of  the  Eternal.  The  writings  of 
Woolman  and  Benezet,  of  Sharp  and  Wilberforce  and  Clark- 
son,  with  a  host  of  others,  through  whose  serenity  and  meek- 
ness shone  a  burning  zeal  and  a  fearless  courage,  have 
awoke  sentiments,  which  will  never  permit  inactivity  among 
the  benevolent,  while  Africa  or  the  world  bears  the  foot-print 
of  a  slave.  That  benevolence  towards  the  people  of  colour 
must  operate  exclusively,  or  mainly,  to  secure  for  them  im- 

*  The  moral  influence  of  the  step  just  taken  by  the  British  nation  will  be 
universal  and  powerful;  it  is  impossible  to  resist  it.  It  is  the  greatest  achieve- 
ment ever  made  in  the  cause  of  human  liberty— at  the  same  time,  that  it  is 
the  most  notable  act  of  humanity — that  the  world  has  ever  beheld.  The  pur- 
chase of  our  national  independence  bears  no  comparison  with  it.  It  is  radi- 
cal; it  is  a  public  and  solemn  concession  of  right,  where  there  was  no  power 
in  the  sufferer  to  gain  it.  It  was  the  struggle — it  is  the  triumph  of  principle. 
Every  nation— all  the  world  sees  it,  and  will  feel  it.  It  is  an  expression  and  a 
demonstration  of  "the  spirit  of  the  age."— Letter  from  London,  to  the  Editor  of 
the  New  York  Observer. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  109 

mediately,  in  this  country,  the  highest  political  rights,  is  a 
recent  discovery  which  seems  unauthorized  either  by  Reason, 
the  Word  or  the  Providence  of  God. 

Dr.  Fothergill,  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends  in 
England,  first  suggested,  and  Granville  Sharp  first  executed 
(by  founding  the  Sierra  Leone  Colony)  the  project  of  colo- 
nizing free  men  of  colour  in  Africa.  The  philanthropic  Dr. 
William  Thornton  of  Washington,  proposed  in  the  year  1787, 
to  conduct  a  company  of  free  coloured  emigrants  from  the 
United  States  to  Africa,  but  circumstances  beyond  .his  control 
frustrated  his  design.  The  subject  was  discussed  hrthe  Le- 
gislature of  Virginia  early  in  the  present  century,  and  the  Ge- 
neral Government  requested  by  that  Body  to  aid  in  the  selec- 
tion and  ^acquisition  of  Territory  adapted  to  the  purposes  of 
the  contemplated  Colony. 

But  the  establishment  of  the  American  Colonization  So- 
ciety resulted  less  from  political  motives,  than  from  Christian 
benevolence.  The  devoted  Mills,  singly  intent  upon  doing 
good  in  silence  and  humility,  during  his  journeys  of  useful- 
ness, sought  information  in  regard  to  the  people  of  colour: 
and  while  his  prayers  were  offered  to  Heaven  in  their  behalf 
his  heart  was  animated  by  hope,  that  they  would  finally  re- 
turn to  Africa,  and  bear  with  them  the  principles  of  a  purer 
and  better  life,  to  her  barbarous  population.  The  venerated 
Finley,  justly  honoured  as  the  founder  of  the  Society,  sought 
his  happiness  in  the  relief  of  the  wretched  and  the  service  of 
God,  and  laboured  for  the  good  of  the  coloured  man  under 
the  impulse  of  a  disinterested  spirit. 

Nor  ought  we  to  forget,  that  long  before  the  formation  of 
the  Colonization  Society,  there  were  generous  souls  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  probably  in  other  parts  of  the  South,  touched  with 
a  tender  and  affecting  charity  towards  the  people  of  colour, 
whose  daily  and  nightly  thoughts  were  fixed  upon  their  dark 
condition,  and  who  in  grief  and  prayer  sought  to  teach,  com- 
fort, and  guide  those  of  them  who  dwelt  within  the  limits  of 


110  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

their  influence,  trusting  that  the  Father  of  mercies,  who 
had  lighted  up  their  hearts  with  His  grace  and  love,  would 
kindle  other  hearts  also,  until  the  Nation  should  arise  in 
power  for  the  redemption  of  Africa. 

In  a  future  world  the  fact  may  stand  revealed,  that  from  the 
sacred  retirements  of  a  few  devout  ladies  in  Virginia,  who  at 
the  Saviour's  feet  had  learnt  better  lessons  than  this  world's 
philosophy  could  teach,  emanated  a  spirit  of  zeal  and  charity 
in  behalf  of  the  afflicted  Africans,  which  has  widely  spread; 
inspired  Ministers  and  Statesmen  with  an  almost  divine  elo- 
quence in  their  cause,  and  given  to  this  cause  an  impulse 
which  nothing  shall  be  able  to  resist.* 

The  American  Colonization  Society  was  founded  in  Wash- 
ington City,  in  December,  1816.  The  patriotic  and  pious 
from  various  parts  of  the  country,  united  in  its  organization.! 
They  could  not  close  their  eyes  upon  the  following  facts : 

1.  That  the  slavery  of  two  millions  of  coloured  persons  in 
the  Southern  portion  of  this  Union  was  under  the  exclusive 
control  and  legislation  of  the  slaveholding  States — each  hav- 
ing the  sole  right  of  regulating  it  within  its  own  limits. 

*  I  have  the  utmost  confidence  in  the  power  of  maternal  fire-side  instruc- 
tions. Many  pious  parents,  especially  mothers,  in  Virginia,  at  the  close  of  the 
Revolution,  finding  themselves  at  peace  in  their  homes  of  freedom,  felt  a  sym- 
pathy for  those  around  them  who  had  derived  little  or  no  benefit  from  the  ar- 
duous contest  just  terminated.  They  desired  to  lead  their  children  in  the 
paths  of  divine  wisdom,  hut  they  saw  them  exposed  to  an  evil  rising  like  a 
mountain  barrier  in  their  path.  They  were  enabled,  however,  daily  and  faith- 
fully to  study  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  to  instil  into  the  minds  of  their  chil- 
dren, principles  which  are  now  silently  pervading  the  hearts  of  thousands,  and 
working  a  glorious  change  in  their  whole  moral  state.  That  law,  which  the 
Apostle  James  styles  a  royal  law,  a  perfect  law  of  liberty,  is  of  power  to 
remedy  the  most  wide  spread,  deep,  and  formidable  evils,  that  have  ever  de- 
formed the  beauty,  weakened  the  strength,  or  sapped  the  foundations  of  any 
Society.  Let  all  parents  study  this  law,  and  all  ministers  explain  and  enforce 
it,  as  the  simple,  but  sublime  and  everlasting  principle  of  order  and  happiness 
on  earth  and  in  Heaven. 

t  Names  of  the  original  members  of  the  Society:— H.  Clay,  E.  B.  Caldwell, 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  Ill 

2.  That  the  two  hundred  thousand  coloured  persons  scat- 
tered throughout  the  Union  and  legally  free,  enjoyed  few  of 
the  advantages  of  freedom. 

3.  That  there  were  powerful  causes  operating  to  frustrate 
all  efforts  to  elevate  very  considerably  men  of  colour  in  this 
country,  which  could  not  exist  to  prevent  their  elevation  in 
a  separate  community  from  the  whites. 

4.  That  the  voluntary  separation  of  the  coloured  from  the 
white  race,  was  in  reason  and  the  public  judgment,  so  desi- 
rable, on  general  principles  of  benevolence,  that  a  union  of 
the  wise  and  pious  from  every  State  and  section  of  the  coun- 
try in  support  of  measures  proposed  for  the  good  of  the  co- 
loured race  yet  tending  to  no  such  a  result,  could  not  be  ex- 
pected. 

5.  That  the  success  of  any  measures  for  the  good  of  this 
race,  must  depend  in  a  great  degree  on  such  union. 

6.  That  Africa  was  inhabited  by  fifty  to  one  hundred  mil- 
lions of  uncivilized  and  heathen  men,  and  that  to  render  as 
far  as  practicable  the  elevation  of  her  exiled  children,  condu- 
cive to  the  deliverance  and  salvation  of  her  home  popula- 
tion, was  required  alike  by  philanthropy  and  piety. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  what  humanity  and  benevolence 
to  the  coloured  race  suggested,  was  embodied  in  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  American  Colonization  Society.  It  was  expect- 
ed that  the  operations  of  this  Society,  would  unfetter  and  in- 
vigorate -the  faculties,  improve  the  circumstances,  animate 

Tho.  Dougherty,  Stephen  B.  Balch,  Jno.  Chalmers,  Jun.  Thos.  Patterson,  John 
Randolph  of  Roanoke,  Robt.  H.  Goldsborough,  William  Thornton,  George 
Clarke,  James  Laurie,  J.  I.  '.Stall,  Dan'l.  Webster,  J.  C.  Herbert,  Wra.  Sim- 
mons, E.  Forman,  Ferd'no.  Fairfax,  V.  Maxcy,  Jno.  Loockerman,  Jno.  Wood- 
side,  William  Dudley  Digges,  Thomas  Carterry,  Samuel  J.  Mills,  Geo.  A. 
Carroll,  W.  G.  D.  Worthington,  John  Lee,  Richard  Bland  Lee,  D.  Murray, 
Robert  Finley,  B.  Allison,  B.  L.  Lear,  W.  Jones,  J.  Mason,  Mord.  Booth,  J. 
S.  Shaaf,  Geo.  Peter,  JohnTayloe,  Overton  Carr,  P.H.  Wendover,  F.  S.  Key, 
Charles  Marsh,  David  M.  Forest,  John  Wiley,  Nathan  Lufborough,  William 
Meade,  William  H.  Wilmer,  George  Travers,  Edm.  I.  Lee,  John  P.  Todd, 
Bushrod  Washington. 


112  LIFE   OF   ASHMUN. 

the  hopes  and  enlarge  the  usefulness  of  the  free  people  of 
colour;  that  by  awakening  thought,  nullifying  objections, 
presenting  motives  convincing  to  the  judgment,  and  persua- 
sive to  the  humanity  of  masters,  they  would  encourage 
emancipation;  that  in  Africa  their  results  would  be  seen,  in 
civilized  and  Christian  communities;  in  the  substitution  of  a 
lawful  and  beneficial  commerce  for  the  abominable  slave 
trade;  of  peaceful  agriculture  for  a  predatory  warfare;  know- 
ledge for  ignorance;  the  arts  that  refine  for  vices  that  de- 
grade; and  for  superstitions  vile,  cruel  and  bloodstained,  the 
ennobling  service  and  pure  worship  of  the  true  God.  It  was 
believed  that  the  fellowship  of  the  North  with  the  South,  in 
African  Colonization,  would  tend  powerfully  to  produce  just 
opinions  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  prepare  for  the  remo- 
val of  the  evil  without  endangering  the  integrity  and  peace 
of  the  Union.  It  was  clear,  that  the  principles  and  measures 
of  the  Society,  interfered  not  with  those  who  desired  to  ame- 
liorate the  condition  of  the  people  of  colour,  bond  or  free,  who 
might  remain  in  our  country;  but  in  fact,  contributed  to  pro- 
duce those  kind  and  considerate  sentiments  towards  both, 
which  alone  can  admit  them  to  all  the  privileges,  possible  to 
them  while  here,  and  denied  a  distinct  national  existence.* 

*  My  view  of  the  system  of  slavery,  as  it  exists  among  us,  is  briefly  this: — 
Individual  masters  are  morally  bound  to  treat  their  slaves  as  their  consciences 
honestly  consulted,  decide  that  they  themselves  would  reasonably  or  rightfully 
expect  to  be  treated  in  the  same  condition  and  circumstances.  And  this  per- 
fect law  of  Christianity,  should  govern  political  bodies,  no  less  than  individu- 
als. Adopting  this,  the  royal  law  of  Christ,  as  a  universal,  perfect  rule  of  duty 
between  man  and  man,  in  all  conditions,  circumstances  and  times,  it  follows, 
therefrom: 

1st.  That  any  doctrine  or  practice  which  would  justify  or  maintain  slavery 
as  a  perpetual  system,  is  abominable;  because  reason  and  conscience  in  the 
breast  of  every  man,  assert  his  natural  capability  for  freedom,  and  of  course, 
that  this  capability  belongs  to  other  men.  And  as  his  judgment  must  decide 
that  it  could  never  be  right  for  others  to  consign  him  and  his  posterity  to  per- 
petual and  involuntary  servitude,  so  does  it  equally,  that  he  can  never  justly 
contribute  to  perpetuate  a  system  which  consigns  others  to  that  condition. 

2d.    That  human  liberty  should  never  be  weighed  in  the  balances  with  mo- 


LIFE    CP    ASHMUN.  113 

But  the  founders  of  the  Society  saw  not  "by  what  authority 
'  we  could  limit  the  Almighty  and  tie  down  the  destiny  of 
1  the  coloured  people,  to  a  condition  so  low,  (or  why  they 

*  should  be  satisfied  with  it)  compared  with  the  blessings  of 

*  nationality."* 

During  the  year  1818,  Messrs.  Samuel  J.  Mills  and  Ebene- 
zer  Burgess,  were  commissioned  by  the  Society  to  proceed  by 
the  way  of  England  to  the  English  settlements,  and  other 
parts  of  the  Western  coast  of  Africa,  to  acquire  information 

ney,  or  estimated  by  dollars  and  cents.  There  is  no  man  who  does  not  regard 
his  own  liberty  as  more  precious  than  property,  and  in  the  same  light,  is  he  to 
regard  the  liberty  of  others. 

3d.  All  rigorous  laws  imposed  on  those  subjected  to  this  system,  (not  ne- 
cessary for  the  good  of  the  enslaved,  or  indispensable  to  the  preservation  of  the 
public  peace  and  safety)  cannot  too  soon  be  abolished.  Such,  I  believe  there 
are;  and  every  humane  and  Christian  man  should  exert  his  influence  to  have 
them  erased  from  the  State  codes. 

4th.  Where  the  system  exists,  those  who  have  the  political  power,  are  as 
much  bound  to  proceed  benevolently  in  their  measures  to  remedy  and  remove 
it,  as  they  are  to  proceed  at  all.  They  must  not  forget  that  "civil  society  is  an 
institution  of  beneficence;  and  law  itself  is  (or  should  be)  beneficence,  acting 
by  rule."  Nor  that  "restraints  on  men,  as  well  as  their  liberties,  are  to  be  reck- 
oned (in  a  sense)  among  their  rights."  They  ought  not  to  attempt  to  do  that 
suddenly  and  by  a  blow,  which  they  know  may  be  done  more  safely  and  bene- 
ficially with  caution  and  preparation. 

5th.  It  may  be  the  duty  of  individual  masters  to  liberate  their  slaves,  before 
the  State  is  morally  bound  to  enact  laws  for  the  entire  and  universal  abolition  of 
slavery.  For  particular  slaves  may  be  qualified  for  freedom,  and  their  masters 
may  have  ability  to  place  them  where  such  freedom  would  be  to  them  a  bene- 
fit, while  the  great  mass  of  the  slave  population  are  unqualified  for  perfect 
freedom;  and  the  State  feels  prohibited  by  motives  of  enlarged  benevolence, 
from  conferring  it,  instantly,  upon  them.  There  is  no  danger  that  either  States  or 
individuals  at  the  South,  will  act  too  soon  or  too  earnestly  on  the  subject.  The 
great  object  should  be,  ITiumbly  conceive,  to  awaken  in  all  minds  a  sense  of 
justice  and  benevolence  towards  our  whole  coloured  population.  All  should 
immediately  and  earnestly  unite  in  preparing  them  for  freedom.  When  quali- 
fied therefor,  there  should  be  no  hesitation  in  conferring  it  upon  them.  "It  is 
advanced  in  the  eternal  constitution  of  things,  that  men  of  intemperate  minds, 
cannot  be  free.  Their  passions  forge  their  fetters." 

*  Dr.  Beecher. 

15 


114 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 


and  ascertain  whether  suitable  Territory  could  be  purchased 
for  the  proposed  Colony.  They  conferred  with  the  friends' 
of  Africa  in  England,  from  whom  they  experienced  the  ut- 
most kindness,  and  received  letters  to  the  Governor  of  Sierra 
Leone;  visited  that  Colony,  the  Gambia  and  Sherbro,  and 
having  fulfilled  their  arduous  duties,  embarked  for  the  United 
States.  The  death  of  Mr.  Mills  while  on  his  return,  deprived 
the  world  of  one  of  the  best  of  men.  From  the  very  interest- 
ing and  satisfactory  reports  of  these  Agents,  the  Society  was 
encouraged  to  proceed  in  its  enterprise. 

We  refer  to  a  former  chapter,  for  some  account  of  the  first 
expedition  (in  1820)  to  Africa,  and  the  sufferings  of  the  emi- 
grants at  Sherbro  Island,  during  which  the  Agent  of  Govern- 
ment, Mr.  Bacon,  his  assistant  Mr.  Bankson,  and  the  Socie- 
ty's Agent  Mr.  Crozer  died,  from  the  combined  influences  of 
exposure,  excessive  effort,  and  the  fever  of  the  country. 

Early  in  the  year  1821,  the  brig  Nautilus,  chartered  by 
the  United  States'  Government,  conveyed  to  Africa,  Messrs, 
J.  B.  Winn  and  Ephraim  Bacon,  Agents  of  Government;  and 
the  Rev.  Joseph  R.  Andrus  Principal,  and  Mr.  Christian 
Wiltberger,  Assistant  Agent  of  the  Colonization  Society,  with 
a  small  number  of  emigrants.    In  obedience  to  instructions, 
the  Agents  on  their  arrival  at  Sierra  Leone,  sought  and  ob- 
tained permission  from  the  Government  of  that  Colony,  for 
the  emigrants  by  the  Nautilus,   as  well  as  for  those  in  the 
Sherbro  country,  to  remain  at  Foura  Bay,  an  extensive  and 
cultivated  plantation,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Freetown, 
until  suitable  land  should  be  obtained  for  the  site  of  the  in- 
tended Colony.    Messrs.  Bacon  and  Andrus  visited  different 
points  on  the  coast,  particularly  Grand  Bassa;  the  natives  of 
which  district,  consented  to  receive  the  people  from  America, 
but  declined  making  the  least  concession  towards  an  aban- 
donment of  the  slave  trade.     Soon  after  their  return  to  Sierra 
Leone,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bacon,  in  consequence  of  severe  illness, 
embarked  for  the  United  States;  and  in  the  course  of  a  few 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  115 

weeks,  Mr.  Aiidrus  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Winn,  were  removed 
by  death,  to  their  eternal  reward. 

The  duties  of  chief  Agent,  were  now  discharged  by  Mr. 
Wiltberger,  until  the  arrival  of  Dr.  Eli  Ayres,  who  had  re- 
ceived an  appointment  to  that  office,  late  in  the  autumn  of 
1821.  Mr.  Wiltberger  then  proceeded  to  Sherbro,  and  ac- 
companied such  of  the  people  as  had  remained  at  that  place, 
with  their  effects,  to  Foura  Bay.  In  the  month  of  December, 
Captain  Robert  F.  Stockton,  of  the  United  States'  Schooner 
Alligator,  arrived  at  Sierra  Leone,  and  consented  to  accom- 
pany Dr.  Ayres  to  Cape  Montserado,  to  obtain,  if  possible, 
Territory  for  the  Colony.  These  gentlemen  urged  negotia- 
tions for  several  days  with  the  chiefs  of  the  country;  and  final- 
ly, by  great  skill  and  perseverance,  obtained  a  valuable  tract 
of  land,  including  Cape  Montserado,  affording,  as  was  believ- 
ed, an  eligible  situation  for  the  first  settlement. 

Dr.  Ayres  proceeded  without  delay  to  Sierra  Leone,  direct- 
ed several  of  the  emigrants  (mostly  single  men)  to  make  rea- 
dy for  their  departure  in  one  of  the  Colonial  Schooners,  and 
sailing  with  them,  arrived  at  Cape  Montserado  on  the  7th  of 
January,  1822.  Others  followed  on  the  sixteenth  of  Febru- 
ary. It  was  found  necessary  for  Dr.  Ayres  again  to  visit  Si- 
erra Leone,  from  which  place  he  returned  with  all  the  re- 
maining Colonists,  on  the  7th  of  April.  He  found  the  settle- 
ment in  confusion  and  alarm.  Hitherto  the  Colonists  had 
occupied  a  small  and  unhealthy  Island,  in  the  mouth  of 
Montserado  river.  The  natives  had  shown  much  duplicity, 
and  a  determination,  if  possible,  to  expel  the  Colonists  from 
the  country.  But  possession  was  finally  obtained  of  Cape 
Montserado.  In  a  slight  contest  with  the  natives,  the  store- 
house had  taken  fire,  and  most  of  the  provisions  and  utensils 
of  the  Colony  been  destroyed. 

Sickness  began  to  prevail,  and  the  Agents  were  among  the 
afflicted;  the  rainy  season  had  just  set  in;  provisions  were 
scanty,  and  the  friendship  of  the  natives  furnished  no  ground 


116  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

for  reliance.  Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  proposed, 
that  such  as  desired,  should  return  to  take  up  a  temporary  re- 
sidence at  Sierra  Leone.  Mr.  Wiltberger  offered  to  remain 
with  such  as  should  decide  on  maintaining  their  position  on 
the  Cape,  which  most  of  them  nobly  resolved  to  do,  even  at 
ihe  hazard  of  their  lives. 

In  July  of  this  year,  the  little  band,  having  endured  great 
trials  and  hardships,  were  enabled  entirely  to  abandon  the 
Island,  and  place  themselves  beneath  their  own  humble  dwell- 
ings, on  the  Cape.  Both  Agents  before  this,  judged  it  neces- 
sary to  return  to  the  United  States,  leaving  an  intelligent 
and  honest  emigrant,*  General  Superintendent  of  affairs. 
Few,  destitute,  and  exposed  to  the  treachery  of  savage  foes, 
far  away  from  the  abodes  of  civilized  man,  this  feeble  compa- 
ny found  shelter  under  the"  wing  of  Divine  Mercy,  and  pa- 
tiently awaited  those  aids  and  supplies,  which  their  necessi- 
ties demanded,  and  which  they  trusted  the  Almighty  power, 
that  had  so  long  been  their  safeguard,  would  in  due  season 
afford. 

*  Elijah  Johnson,  of  New  York, 


CHAPTER    VII. 


MR.  ASHMUN  embarked  for  Africa,  at  Baltimore,  in  the 
brig  Strong,  on  the  20th  of  June,  1822. 

Congress,  by  an  Act  of  the  2d  of  March,  1807,  prohibited, 
under  heavy  penalties,  the.  importation  of  slaves  from  a  for- 
eign country,  into  any  State  or  Territory  of  the  United 
States;  and  yet,  left  slaves  imported  in  violation  of  law,  sub- 
ject to  any  regulations  not  contravening  the  provisions  of 
said  Act,  which  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States  or  Ter- 
ritories, might  adopt. 

The  Legislature  of  Georgia,  by  a  Law  passed  on  the  19th 
of  December,  1817,  empowered  the  Governor  to  sell  for  the 
benefit  of  the  State,  any  negroes,  mulattoes  or  persons  of  co- 
lour brought  into  it,  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  U.  States; 
and  the  proceeds  of  sales,  to  a  considerable  amount,  made  in 
pursuance  of  this  Act,  were  soon  after  deposited  in  the  Trea- 
sury of  that  State.*  By  the  last  section  of  this  Act,  however, 
the  Governor  was  authorized,  in  case  the  Colonization  So- 

*  The  Act  of  Congress,  of  the  3d  of  March,  1819,  has  forever  put  it  out  of 
the  power  of  a  State  so  to  dishonour  itself,  by  disposing  of  the  liberty  of  op- 
pressed strangers. 


118  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

ciety  should,  before  the  sale  of  any  such  persons,  undertake 
to  transport  them  to  Africa  or  elsewhere,  at  the  sole  expense 
of  the  Society;  and  also,  to  defray  any  expenses  which  might 
have  been  incurred  by  the  State  on  their  account,  to  pro- 
mote, as  he  might  deem  expedient,  the  benevolent  views  of 
the  Society. 

On  the  7th  of  April,  1819,  the  Managers  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society,  having  been  informed  that  on  the  4th 
of  May  following,  from  thirty  to  forty  Africans,  unlawfully 
introduced,  were  to  be  sold  in  the  capital  of  Georgia,  autho- 
rized the  Rev.  William  Meade*  (who  had  accepted  a  brief 
agency  for  the  Board,  and  to  whose  efforts  then,  and  since, 
the  Society  is  deeply  indebted,)  to  proceed  to  Milledgeville, 
and  assurng  all  responsibilities  necessary  to  prevent  the  sale, 
and  secure  the  restoration  of  these  unfortunate  men  to  their 
own  country.  He  arrived  just  in  season  to  rescue  these  poor 
Africans  from  the  peril  of  their  situation,  and  to  find  in  their 
joy  and  in  that  of  many  sympathizing  bosoms,  an  ample  re- 
ward for  exertions  even  more  laborious  than  those  he  had 
so  promptly  made  for  their  relief.  The  case  between  certain 
Spanish  claimants  to  these  Africans  and  the  State,  had  not 
yet  been  decided;  and  they  were  therefore  left  to  await  the 
result,  which  if  favourable  (as  'expected)  to  their  freedom, 
would,  by  consent  of  the  Governor  of  Georgia,  place  them  at 
the  disposal  of  the  American  Colonization  Society.  For 
ability  to  indemnify  Georgia  for  any  expense  she  had  incur- 
red in  their  behalf,  the  Managers  relied  both  upon  the  libe- 
rality of  the  public,  and  the  justice  of  the  American  Govern- 
ment, which  by  the  Act  of  the  3d  of  March,  1819,  had  fully 
recognized  the  moral  obligation  of  extending  protection  to 
such  injured  strangers. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1822,  eighteen  of  these  Africans, 
declared  free  by  a  competent  tribunal,  arrived  in  Baltimore, 

*  The  present  Assistant  Bishop  of  Virginia. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  119 

under  arrangement  of  the  President  to  convey  them  thence 
to  Africa,  in  conformity  to  the  law,  and  at  the  expense  of  the 
United  States.  In  the  brig  Strong,  chartered  for  their  accom- 
modation, the  Managers  of  the  Colonization  Society  obtained 
passage  for  thirty-five  additional  emigrants  and  various  stores; 
the  charge  of  the  entire  expedition  being  entrusted  to  Mr, 
Ashmun,  with  instructions  (should  he  return  in  the  brig)  to 
report  the  condition  and  prospects  of  the  Colony;  or  in  case 
of  the  sickness  or  absence  of  the  Agents,  to  remain  in  Africa 
as  principal  Agent,  until  some  other  individual  should  be  ap- 
pointed to  that  office. 

It  is  believed  Mr.  Ashmun  was  impelled  to  leave  his  coun- 
try, rather  by  a  desire  to  realize  from  commercial  operations,  the 
means  of  discharging  heavy  debts,  which  should  he  continue  in 
America,  he  saw  it  impossible  soon  to  pay,  than  by  any  expecta- 
tion of  occupying  the  station  which  Providence  destined  him 
to  fill  with  such  distinguished  honour  and  success.  That  he 
felt  for  the  cause  of  African  Colonization  an  ardent  aifection, 
and  hoped  essentially  to  promote  it,  is  certain.  But  his 
thoughts  were  directed  to  a  plan  of  extensive  trade,  which  he 
imagined  might  prove  of  some  .advantage  to  himself,  while 
it  contributed  to  conciliate  and  civilize  the  Africans,  and  to 
augment  the  resources  and  facilitate  all  the  operations  of  the 
Society.*  The  information  he  would  obtain  by  a  visit  to  the 
African  coast,  must,  he  concluded,  enable  him  to  judge  of 
proper  measures  for  effecting  his  object;  and  on  his  return, 
all  the  details  of  the  plan  might  be  satisfactorily  adjusted, 
with  the  various  parties  concerned.  He  regarded  the  scheme 
probably  at  the  time  of  his  departure,  as  something  of  an  ad- 
venture, since  it  does  not  appear  that  he  had  submitted  it  to 
the  consideration  of  the  Managers  of  the  Society.!  His  re- 

*  In  his  Journal  he  remarks:    "In  1822,  the  mercantile  mania  possessed 
aaefor  a  few  weeks." 

t  See  Appendix  No.  4. 


120  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

flections  upon  it,  during  the  voyage,  were  communicated  to 
the  Board,  and  it  constitutes  the  principal  topic  of  one  of  his 
earliest  letters  from  the  Colony. 

He  was  employed  for  nearly  a  month  at  Baltimore,  in  so- 
liciting donations  from  the  citizens,  purchasing  supplies,  and 
superintending  all  transactions  preparatory  to  the  departure 
of  the  expedition;  and  his  letters  to  the  Society,  show  both 
his  benevolent  concern  for  the  comfort  of  the  emigrants,  and 
his  habits  of  attention,  even  then,  to  the  minute  details  of 
business. 

The  accidental  death  of  an  African  boy,  who,  when  first 
missed,  was  supposed  to  have  absconded,  is  thus  noticed : 

"May  8th,  1822. 
"A  melancholy  disclosure !    The  little  African  boy,  men- 

*  tioned  yesterday,  was  drowned.    He  was  drawn  out  of  the 
'  dock  this  morning  at  11  o'clock.    It  seems  that  he  watched 
1  his  opportunity  when  all  others  were  below,  to  go  upon  the 

*  wharf,  and  the  wind  being  high,  he  was  precipitated  over. 
'  Poor  fellow !    He  was  a  fine  child — told  me  the  evening  be- 
1  fore,  that  his  mistress  in  Savannah,  taught  him  morning  and 
1  evening,  cto  pray  to  the  Good  Man  above.'    He  has  had  a 
1  decent  burial.    His  companions  are  much  affected." 

It  was  at  first  determined,  that  Mrs.  Ashmun  should  re- 
main, with  her  friends,  in  the  United  States;  but  her  affection- 
ate solicitude  to  accompany  her  husband,  finally  induced  him 
to  consent  that  she  should  become  his  companion,  in  the  un- 
certain and  perilous  fortunes  of  the  voyage. 

On  the  15th  of  May,  all  the  emigrants  assembled  on  the 
quarter-deck  of  the  vessel — "a  laborious,  orderly,  and  plain 
company,"  said  Mr.  Ashmun,  "who  go  out  with  sober  views, 
and  will  add  real  strength  to  the  Colony;"  and  in  the  presence 
of  many  of  the  Clergy  and  citizens  of  Baltimore,  listened  to 
an  exhortation  from  the  Bishop  of  Maryland,  who,  in  conclu- 
sion, implored  in  behalf  of  the  little  company,  the  divine 


or 

'UNIVEESITY 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


blessing,  and  commended  them  to  the  protection  of  the 
mighty. 

Off  Annapolis,  on  the  21st  of  May,  (the  day  after  the  Strong 
left  Baltimore)  Mr.  Ashmun  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Colonization  Society: — "We  had  a  short  service,  Sunday 
1  evening  at  4  o'clock  on  the  quarter-deck;  have  daily,  morn- 
'  ing  devotions  at  six,  and  evening  at  seven;  the  native  boys 
c  are  distributed  among  the  other  people;  our  accommodations 
1  are  comfortable — my  wife's  health  improves;  and  in  fine, 
( the  blessing  of  God  remarkably  rests  on  our  external  circum- 
{  stances.  I  pray  that  His  grace  may  visit  and  rest  upon  all 
'  abundantly." 

While  detained  by  contrary  winds  near  the  Capes  of  Vir- 
ginia, he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  same  gentleman,  on  the 
subject  of  the  African  trade,  expressing  the  belief,  that  it 
might  be  rendered,  in  an  important  degree,  conducive  to  the 
objects  of  the  Colonization  Society;  that  by  it,  properly  con- 
ducted, the  attention  of  the  natives  might  be  turned  from  the 
slave  trade,  to  an  honourable  commerce,  and  find  it  for  their 
interest  to  remain  in  peace  with  the  Colonists,  who  on  their 
part,  would  derive  therefrom,  very  important  advantages. — 
He  judged  it  desirable,  that  in  the  vicinity  of  Montserado, 
this  trade  should  be  conducted  by  American  merchants;  that 
the  productions  and  capabilities  of  Africa,  might  be  brought 
before  the  eyes  of  the  American  people;  and  that  by  the  fre- 
quent and  regular  passage  of  ships  between  the  United  States 
and  that  country,  every  facility  might  be  given  to  emigra- 
tion. He  suggested  that  half  the  expense  incurred  by  the  So- 
ciety, might  be  saved,  were  vessels  to  sail  regularly  from  Bal- 
timore, with  freights  for  this  trade,  and  return  with  cargoes 
from  Africa;  and  finally  declared  his  purpose  to  do  what  he 
could  to  promote  the  object  with  the  natives  and  the  settle- 
ment, presuming  that  he  should  thus  meet  the  wishes  of  the 
Society,  and  subserve  the  interests  of  the  Colony. 

Soon  after  the  Strong  left  the  Capes  of  Virginia,  she  en- 
countered a  heavy  gale  for  eight  days;  during  which,  no  at- 

16* 


122  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

tempt  was  made  to  proceed;  and  being  a  miserably  dull  sailer, 
she  did  not  arrive  at  Fayal,  (one  of  the  Azores)  before  the 
first  of  July.  From  this  place,  Mr.  Ashmun  wrote,  that  the 
"emigrants  had  uniformly  evinced  the  most  peaceable  and 

*  industrious  dispositions;  that  they  had  been  formed  into 
1  about  ten  classes — to  each  of  which,  was  appointed  an  in- 
1  structer,  to  act  under  his  superintendence;  that  these  class- 
1  es  were  assembled  twice  a  day,  and  instructed  from  four  to 
'  five  hours;  that  all  had  sensibly  improved;  that  they  had 
'  seldom  been  hindered  from  worship  twice  on  the  Sabbath, 
1  or  from  morning  and  evening  devotions;  that  all  the  people 

*  were  apparently  moral;  and  that  the  example  of  such  as  pro- 
'  fessed  religion,  had  been  productive  of  the  most  salutary  ef- 
1  fects,  and  gave  reason  to  expect  their  good  conduct  and  use- 
1  fulness  in  Africa." 

At  Fayal,  the  cargo  and  ballast  which  had  been  displaced 
by  the  storm,  were  overhauled  and  adjusted;  supplies  of  fresh 
provisions,  water,  and  vegetables,  taken  in;  and  after  the  de- 
tention of  a  week,  the  Strong  pursued  her  course,  and  com- 
pleted her  voyage  on  the  8th  of  August — eighty-one  days 
from  Baltimore. 

On  the  9th  of  August,  1822,  Mr.  Ashmun  stood,  for  the  first 
time,  on  Cape  Montserado;  and  having  ascertained  that  both 
Agents  had  left  the  country,  assumed,  agreeably  to  instruc- 
tions, and  in  fulfilment  of  his  pledge  to  the  Board,  the  direc- 
tion as  principal  Agent  of  the  affairs  of  the  Colony.  He  sum- 
moned all  his  energies,  surveyed  rapidly  the  field  of  labour, 
and  deferred  not  an  hour,  the  commencement  of  his  work. — 
He  found  a  respectable  Colonist  in  charge  of  the  public  con- 
cerns, but  no  books  or  documents  defining  the  limits  of  the 
purchased  Territory,  the  state  of  negotiations  with  the  na- 
tives, or  throwing  light  upon  the  duties  of  the  Agency. 

Cape  Montserado,  elevated  from  seventy-five  to  eighty  feet 
above  the  sea,  forms  the  abrupt  termination  of  a  narrow 
tongue  of  land,  in  length  thirty-six  miles,  and  from  one  and  a 
half  to  three  miles  in  breadth;  bounded  on  the  South-west 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  123 

by  the  ocean,  and  on  the  North-east  by  the  rivers  Montserado 
and  Junk,  running  in  nearly  opposite  directions,  their  head 
waters  being  at  a  short  distance  from  each  other;  the  isthmus 
between,  constituting  the  junction  of  the  Montserado  Penin- 
sula, to  the  mainland.  The  site  chosen  for  the  original  set- 
tlement, (now  Monrovia)  is  two  miles  from  the  point  of  the 
Cape,  on  the  ridge,  approaching  here  to  within  one  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  of  the  river,  to  which,  therefrom,  there  is  a 
steep  descent.  This  site,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  Penin- 
sula, was,  when  ceded  to  the  Society,  covered  with  a  lofty 
and  dense  forest,  entangled  with  vines  and  brushwood;  the 
haunts  of  savage  beasts,  and  through  which  the  Barbarians 
were  accustomed  to  cut  their  narrow  and  winding  pathways 
to  the  coast. 

When  Mr.  Ashmun  arrived,  a  small  spot  had  been  cleared, 
about  thirty  houses  constructed  in  native  style,  with  a  store- 
house entirely  too  small  to  receive  any  supplies  in  addition 
to  those  it  then  contained.  The  rainy  season  was  at  its 
height;  the  public  property  had  been  chiefly  consumed  by 
fire;  some  of  the  settlers  already  on  the  ground,  were  but 
imperfectly  sheltered;  and  for  those  just  arrived,  no  prepara- 
tion had  been  made;  the  settlement  had  no  adequate  means  of 
defence  while  the  chiefs  of  the  country  could  no  longer  con- 
ceal their  hostile  designs.  The  whole  population  of  the  set- 
tlement, including  the  emigrants  by  the  Strong,  did  not  ex- 
ceed one  hundred  and  thirty;  of  whom,  thirty-five  only,  were 
capable  of  bearing  arms. 

A  comprehensive  system  of  operations  was  immediately 
commenced,  to  relieve  the  wants  and  improve  the  condition 
of  the  infant  Colony,  and  afford  security  against  the  dangers 
to  which  it  was  exposed. 

A  Colonial  Journal  was  opened  with  the  design  of  record- 
ing therein,  all  important  transactions  and  events.* 

*  "This  Journal,  I  judged  fit  to  open  on  the  day  of  my  landing,  and  intend 


124 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


Separate  inventories  were  entered  in  a  book,  of  the  public 
stores  found  in  the  Colony,  and  of  those  sent  in  the  Strong, 
both  by  the  U.  States  and  the  Society. 

Orders  were  given  for  the  erection  of  a  store-house;  for 
completing  a  building  just  commenced  (designed  as  a  mar- 
ket-house) for  the  recaptured  Africans;  and  that  the  best  ac- 
commodations, the  case  would  admit,  should  be  prepared,  in 
the  houses  already  occupied,  for  the  newly  arrived  emigrants. 

On  the  9th  of  August,  the  Strong  was  forced  from  her 
moorings  with  the  loss  of  one  of  her  anchors;  and  on  the 
10th,  her  cable  again  parted,  when  being  near  the  beach,  and 
the  wind  blowing  directly  on  shore,  she  was,  with  extreme 
difficulty,  saved  from  destruction.  After  a  vain  attempt  for 
forty-eight  hours  to  sail  out  of  the  bay  formed  by  the  promon- 
tories of  Cape  Montserado  and  Cape  Mount,  the  small  anchor 
was  providentially  recovered,  and  she  was  again  brought  to 
a  fixed  position,  but  at  the  distance  of  five  miles  from  the  set- 
tlement. During  this  perilous  season,  the  Agent,  with  nearly 
all  the  emigrants,  were  on  board. 

The  people  were  safely  landed  on  the  13th  and  14th,  but 
owing  to  the  great  distance  of  the  brig,  to  the  prevalence  of 
boisterous  weather,  the  loss  of  the  principal  boat  employed  in 
the  service,  and  the  sickening  of  the  boatmen,  it  became  a 
work  of  great  toil  and  difficulty,  to  bring  her  cargo  to  land. 
"But  after  four  weeks  of  incessant  exertion,  the  Agent  enjoy- 
'  ed  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  passengers  and  property  all 
(  safe  on  shore;  the  latter  secured  in  an  extensive  store-house; 
1  and  most  of  the  former  in  a  good  measure  protected  from 
'  the  incessant  rains  of  that  inclement  season."* 

that  a  copy  of  it  shall  always  remain  in  the  Colony,  open  for  public  inspec- 
tion and  use;  and  a  duplicate  agreeing  with  the  former,  even  to  the  paging, 
be  from  time  to  time,  sent  home  to  the  Board,  as  the  best  and  only  effectual 
means  of  keeping  them  fully  informed  of  what  passes  in  the  settlement." — 
Mr.  Mmun's  Letter  to  the  Board. 

*  Ashmun's  History. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  125 

Efforts  were  made  without  delay,  to  ascertain,  as  far  as 
practicable,  the  dispositions  of  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  coun- 
try, and  by  offers  of  an  honest  and  friendly  trade,  and  by  pro- 
posals to  receive  and  instruct  their  sons  in  the  English  lan- 
guage, to  bind  them  in  the  most  amicable  relations  to  the 
Colony.  The  Journal  contains  the  following  account  of  the 
Agent's  interview  with  King  Peter*  and  King  Long  Peter,  on 
the  14th  of  August : 

"The  chiefs  inquired  whether  goods  had  been  sent  by  the 
1  brig  to  pay  for  the  lands  ? 

"Answer.  The  Society  believed  that  nearly  the  whole 
c  price  had  been  paid  to  King  Peter  many  moons  ago,  accord- 
c  ing  to  the  contract,  and  had  sent  out  very  few  goods  for 
'  that  purpose. 

"  Question.  Had  Dr.  Ayres  arrived  in  America  before  the 
{  Agent  left  there? 

"Answer.  Certainly  not.  The  Society,  therefore,  gave 
1  the  present  Agent  no  instructions  in  relation  to  the  purchase 
(  of  the  lands.  But  the  next  arrival  from  America,  after 
*  Dr.  Ayres  should  have  reached  there,  would  bring  fresh 
1  instructions  on  the  subject,  adapted  to  the  present  state  of 
'  things.  King  Peter  might  be  assured  that  the  Society 
e  would  be  governed  by  the  strictest  justice,  and  the  truest 
1  friendship,  in  all  their  transactions  with  him  and  his  head 
1  men:  and  that  he  would  never  find  them  to  shrink  from 
<  any  of  their  engagements.  They  would  hear  with  great 
1  regret  of  King  Peter's  refusal  of  a  part  of  the  goods,  which 
'  he  agreed  by  the  deed  to  receive  for  the  lands.  But  they 
1  were  and  would  be  King  Peter's  friends.  They  had  sent  a 
1  letter  to  King  Peter  and  his  head  men,  which  the  Agent 
1  would  deliver  whenever  he  should  express  his  readiness  to 
(  receive  it. 

"King  Peter  then  desired  to  have  the  letter.    The  letter 

*  For  his  age  and  influence,  regarded  as  the  patriarch  of  the  tribes  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  Colony. 


126  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

'  was  delivered  and  interpreted  to  the  King,  and  seemed  to 
'  come  very  seasonably,  and  to  produce  a  good  effect  on  his 

*  feelings.     He  observed  in  conclusion : 

"Should  more  goods  and  freslj  instructions  in  relation  to 

*  the  lands  arrive  from  America,  he  would  call  a  general  pala- 
'  ver  of  the  Kings  and  head  men  concerned  in  the  cessions 
4  of  the  lands,  and  be  governed  by  their  sentence;  that  mean 
'  time  he  would  remain  as  he  had  been  a  friend;  that  his  age 
c  and  rank,  he  thought,  entitled  him,  according  to  the  custom 
{  of  the  country,  to  some  consideration,  which  he  would  be 
{  glad  to  have  the  Agent  express  by  a  present  of  whatever  he 
'  might  have  to  spare;  but  which  he  could  receive  only  as  a 
c  present." 

To  this,  the  Agent  replied : 

"He  was  willing,  in  behalf  of  the  Society,  to  express  his 
1  respect  for  King  Peter's  age  and  character,  by  a  small  pres- 
1  ent,  which  he  would  send  to  his  town,  as  soon  as  conve- 
1  nient,  after  receiving  the  goods  ashore." 

On  the  16th  of  August,  the  Agent  visited  King  Bristol,* 
thirteen  miles  distant;  "stated  to  him  his  friendly  disposition; 
1  thanked  him  for  his  friendship  towards  the  settlers,  and  de- 
1  sired  the  same  amicable  feelings  and  intercourse  might  be 
« perpetual.  He  further  offered  to  open  with  King  Bristol 
c  and  his  people,  a  fair  and  mutually  advantageous  trade,  to  be 
{  conducted,  on  the  one  part,  in  American  and  European 
<  goods;  on  the  other,  in  the  productions  of  the  country." 

To  this,  King  Bristol  replied  in  substance,  that  he  was 
pleased  with  the  formation  of  the  settlement  of  American  peo- 
ple; that  he  should  continue  to  feel  friendly  to  the  establish- 
ment; that  different  and  distinct  tribes  inhabited  the  country, 
and  it  would  be  unjust  and  ungenerous  to  adopt  an  opinion 
unfavourable  to  all,  from  the. misconduct  of  one  or  two  Kings; 
that  he  was  old,  and  it  was  time  that  his  character  as  a  King 

*  Written  sometimes  Blister. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  127 

and  man,  was  known;  that  he  hoped  he  and  his  people  should 
prove  worthy  of  confidence;  that  he  was  quite  willing  to 
open  trade  with  the  settlement,  and  would  engage  to  protect 
it;  was  glad  to  see  the  Agent,  and  intended  soon  to  pay  the 
Colony  a  friendly  visit. 

Though  there  was  little  reason  to  question  the  sincerity  of 
these  Chiefs,  it  was  manifest,  '/that  under  smooth  and  friend- 

<  ly  appearances,  there  lurked  in  the  minds  of  many  of  the 

<  head  men,  a  spirit  of  determined  malignity,  which  only 
c  waited  for  an  opportunity  to  exert  itself  for  the  ruin  of  the 

<  Colony." 

While,  therefore,  the  Agent  gave  orders  that  the  fifteen 
recaptured  Africans  should  form  a  community  by  themselves, 
under  a  judicious  superintendent  directed  to  regulate  their 
hours,  lead  them  in  family  devotion,  and  instruct  them  in 
reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and  the  principles  of  Christiani- 
ty; that  they  should  be  taught  agriculture  and  trained  up  in 
habits  of  cleanliness,  order,  and  industry;  that  the  plan  of  the 
town  should  be  extended,  and  lots  assigned  to  the  new  emi- 
grants; that  a  comfortable  house  should  be  erected  for  the 
Agent;  that  several  natives  (mostly  the  sons  of  head  men) 
should  be  admitted  as  labourers;  and  for  compensation,  be 
assisted  to  acquire  knowledge  of  the  English  language;  that 
as  far  as  practicable,  the  grounds  should  be  cleared,  and  plant- 
ed with  the  most  useful  vegetables;  he  deemed  it  necessary 
to  give  prompt  and  principal  attention  to  works  of  defence. 
Still  he  did  not  expect  the  dangers  to  which  the  Colony  was 
so  soon  to  be  exposed.  He  did  not  look  for  any  unity  in  the 
counsels,  or  corrtbination  among  the  forces  of  the  Chiefs;  and 
without  these,  he  felt  confident  that  their  hostile  endeavours 
might  be  frustrated.* 

*  September  12th,  he  wrote  to  the  Board : 

"There  is  not  a  head  man  within  fifty  miles  of  us,  who  can  arm  properly 
fifty  men.  They  are  cowardly  in  the  extreme,  and  have  little  control  over 
their  men.  Besides,  there  is  the  same  political  selfishness  existing  among  them, 
which  seems  to  check  the  prosecution  of  their  ambitious  schemes  among  the 


128  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN, 

In  proceeding  with  a  narrative  of  events  connected  with 
the  Colony  at  this  crisis,  and  of  the  means  by  which  it  was 
sustained  against  invading  and  barbarous  foes,  we  must  be 
guided,  mainly,  by  light  which  he  has  furnished,  who  stood 
amid  the  scenes  described,  under  God,  the  guardian  genius 
of  a  spot  upon  which  Liberty  and  Religion  had  just  planted 
their  feet,  to  contend  for  existence  with  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness. 

"So  early,"  says  Mr.  Ashmun,  "as  the  18th  of  August,  the 
1  present  Martello  tower  was  planned;  a  company  of  labour- 
'  ers  employed  by  the  Agent,  in  clearing  the  ground  on  which 
'  it  stands;  and  a  particular  survey  taken  of  the  military 
c  strength  and  means  of  the  settlers.  Of  the  native  Ameri- 
1  cans,  twenty-seven,  when  not  sick,  were  able  to  bear  arms; 
1  but  they  were  wholly  untrained  to  their  use;  and  capable  in 
1  their  present  undisciplined  state  of  making  but  a  very  feeble 
i  defence  indeed.  There  were  forty  muskets  in  store,  which, 
1  with  repairing,  were  capable  of  being  rendered  serviceable. 
1  Of  five  iron  guns  and  one  brass  attached  to  the  settlement,  the 
1  last  only  was  fit  for  service,  and  four  of  the  former  required 
1  carriages.  Several  of  these  were  nearly  buried  in  the  mud, 
*  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  Not  a  yard  of  abatis,  or 
'  other  fence-work,  had  been  constructed.  There  was  no  fix- 
c  ed  ammunition,  nor,  without  great  difficulty  and  delay,  was 
'  it  possible  to  load  the  only  gun  which  was  provided  with  a 
1  sufficient  carriage. 

"It  was  soon  perceived  that  the  means  as  well  as  an  organ- 
1  ized  system  of  defence  were  to  be  originated,  without  either 
1  the  materials  or  the  artificers  usually  considered  necessary 
1  for  such  purposes.  In  the  organization  of  the  men,  thirteen 
1  African  youths  attached  to  the  United  States'  Agency,  most 

different  States  of  Europe.  *  *  *  It  is  morally  certain,  we  shall  not  be 
taken  by  surprise,  and  with  God's  blessing,  no  force  they  can  raise,  will  much 
injure  us,  if  prepared  for  them." — Sixth  Annual  Report  of  the  Colonization  So- 
ciety, pages  40  and  41. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  129 

*  of  whom  had  never  loaded  a  musket,  were  enrolled  in  the 
'  Lieutenant's  corps,  and  daily  exercised  in  the  use  of  arms. — 
i  The  guns  were,  one  after  another,  with  infinite  labour, 
'  transported  over  the  river,  conveyed  to  the  height  of  the 
1  peninsula,  and  mounted  on  rough  truck  carriages,  which  in 
<•  the  event  proved  to  answer  a  very  good  purpose.     A  mas- 

<  ter  of  ordnance  was  appointed,  who,  with  his  assistants,  re- 
6  paired  the  small  arms — made  up  a  quantity  of  fixed  arnmu- 
4  nition,  and  otherwise  aided  in  arranging  the  details  of  the 
i  service. 

"The  little  town  was  closely  environed,  except  on  the  side 
i  of  the  river,  with  the  heavy  forest  in  the  bosom  of  which  it  v 

*  was  situated — thus  giving  to  a  savage  enemy  an  important 
c  advantage  of  which  it  became  absolutely  necessary  to  de- 
1  prive  him,  by  enlarging  to  the  utmost,  the  cleared  space 
i  about  the  buildings.     This  labour  was  immediately  under- 
1  taken,  and  carried  on  without  any  other  intermission,  than 

<  that  caused  by  sickness  of  the  people,  and  the  interruption 
i  of  other  duties  equally  connected  with  the  safety  of  the 
1  place.    But  the  rains  were  immoderate  and  nearly  constant. 

"In  addition  to  these  fatiguing  labours,  was  that  of  main- 
1  taining  the  nightly  watch; — which,  from  the  number  of 
c  sentinels  necessary  for  the  common  safety,  shortly  became 
'  more  exhausting  than  all  the  other  burdens  of  the  people.— 
1  No  less  than  twenty  individuals  were  every  night  detailed 
c  for  this  duty,  after  the  31st  of  August."* 

*  "On  this  day,  the  strength  of  the  Colony  was  thus  organized,  and  the  ac- 
companying orders  issued : 

1.  The  settlement  is  under  military  law. 

2.  E.  Johnson  is  Commissary  of  Stores. 

3.  R.  Sampson  is  Commissary  of  Ordinance. 

4.  L.  Carey,  Health  Officer  and  Government  Inspector. 

5.  F.  James,  Captain  of  brass  mounted  field-piece;  and  has  assigned  to  his 
command,  R.  Newport,  M.  S.  Draper,  William  Meade,  and  J.  Adams. 

6.  A.  James,  Captain  of  Long  18;  and  under  his  command,  J.  Benson, 
E.  Smith,  William  Hollinger,  D.  Hawkins,  John  and  Thomas  Spencer. 


130  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

On  the  25th  of  August,  Mr.  Ashmun  experienced  the  first 
attack  of  fever,  and  three  days  afterwards,  had  the  pain  to 
see  Mrs.  Ashmun  seriously  affected  by  the  same  disease. 

Sickness  soon  commenced  among  the  company  of  recent 
emigrants,  and  prevailed  so  rapidly,  that  on  the  10th  of  Sep- 
tember, of  the  whole  number,  only  two  remained  in  health. 
"The  Agent  was  enabled  by  a  merciful  Providence,  to  main- 
i  tain  a  difficult  struggle  with  his  disorder,  for  four  weeks;  in 
1  which  period,  after  a  night  of  delirium  and  suffering,  it  was 
<  not  an  unusual  circumstance  for  him  to  be  able  to  spend  an 
*  entire  morning  in  laying  off  and  directing  the  execution  of 
'  the  public  works." 

About  the  first  of  September,  the  intercourse  between  the 
settlement  and  the  people  of  the  country,  had  nearly  ceased, 
and  the  native  youths  who  had  been  residing  in  the  Colony, 
were  daily  deserting  in  consequence  of  recent  intelligence 
conveyed  to  them  by  their  friends. 

"The  plan  of  defence  adopted  was  to  station  five  heavy 
1  guns  at  the  different  angles  of  a  triangle  which  should  cir- 

7.  J.  Shaw,  Captain  of  the  Southern  Picket  Station,  mounting  two  iron 
guns.    To  his  command  are  attached  S.  Campbell,  E.  Jackson,  J.  Lawrence, 
L.  Crook,  and  George  Washington. 

8.  D.George,  Captain  of  Eastern  Picket  Station,  mounting  two  iron  guns; 
attached  are  A.Edmondson,  Joseph  Gardiner,  Josh.  Webster,  and  J.  Carey. 

9.  C.  Brander,  Captain  of  a  Carriage  mounting  two  swivels,  to  act  in  con- 
cert  with  the  brass  piece,  and  move  from  station  to  station,  as  the  occasion 
may  require;  attached  are  T.  Tines,  and  L.  Butler. 

10.  Every  man  is  to  have  his  musket  and  ammunition  with  him  even  when 
at  the  large  guns. 

11.  Every  Officer  is  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  the  men  placed  under 
him,  who  are  to  obey  him  at  their  peril. 

12.  The  guns  are  all  to  be  got  ready  for  action  immediately— and  every  ef- 
fective man  is  to  be  employed  on  the  Pickets. 

13.  Five  stations  to  be  occupied  by  guards  at  night,  till  other  orders  shall 
be  given. 

14.  No  useless  firing  permitted. 

15.  In  case  of  an  alarm,  every  man  is  to  repair  instantly  to  his  post  and  do 
his  duly. 


LIFE    OP    ASIIMUN.  131 

*  cumscribe  the  whole  settlement — each  of  the  angles  resting 

*  on  a  point  of  ground  sufficiently  commanding  to  enfilade 

<  two  sides  of  the  triangle,  and  sweep  a  considerable  extent  of 
{  ground  beyond  the  lines.     The  guns  at  these  stations  were 
( to  be  covered  by  musket  proof  triangular  stockades,  of  which 
{  any  two  should  be  sufficient  to  contain  all  the  settlers  in  their 
1  wings.    The  brass  piece  and  two  swivels  mounted  on  travel- 
'  ling  carriages,  were  stationed  in  the  centre,  ready  to  support 
{ the  post  which  might  be  exposed  to  the  heaviest  attack.  After 
1  completing  these  detached  works,  it  was  in  the  intention  of 
1  the  Agent,  had  the  enemy  allowed  the  time,  to  join  all  toge- 
£  ther  by  a  paling  to  be  carried  quite  around  the  settlement; — 
4  and  in  the  event  of  a  yet  longer  respite,  to  carry  on,  as  ra- 
c  pidly  as  possible,  under  the  protection  of  the  nearest  forti- 

*  fied  point,  the  construction  of  the  Martello  tower;  which,  as 
c  soon  as  completed,  would  nearly  supersede  all  the  other 
(  works;  and  by  presenting  an  impregnable  barrier  to  the 

*  success  of  any  native  force,  probably  become  the  instru- 

<  ment  of  a  general  and  permanent  pacification.     Connected 

<  with  these  measures  of  safety,  was  the  extension  to  the  ut- 
4  most,  of  the  cleared  space  about  the  settlement,  still  leaving 
( the  trees  and  brushwood,  after  being  separated  from  their 
1  trunks,  to  spread  the  ground  with  a  tangled  hedge,  through 
1  which  nothing  should  be  able  to  make  its  way,  except  the 
i  shot  from  the  batteries. 

"This  plan  was  fully  communicated  to  the  most  intelligent 
1  of  the  people;  which,  in  the  event  of  the  disability  or  death 
1  of  the  Agent,  they  might,  it  was  hoped,  so  far  carry  into  ef- 
1  feet  as  to  ensure  the  preservation  of  the  settlement." 

On  the  6th  of  September,  the  Agent  convened  the  people, 
read  to  them  the  instructions  of  the  Board,  and  published 
such  laws,  by-laws  and  regulations  as  he  deemed  essential 
to  the  public  welfare.  "Taken  together,"  he  remarks,  "they 

<  comprize  all  the  special  written  laws  which  exist  in  the  set- 

*  tlement."    In  addition  to  sundry  explanations  touching  the 


132  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

particular  laws,  he  offered  on  the  occasion  several  remarks, 
in  substance,  as  follows : 

"That  the  government  of  the  Colony  ought  to  be  a  govern- 
c  ment  of  reason,  religion,  and  law,  and  not  that  of  a  master 
c  over  his  refractory  servants;  that  the  Agent  should  comply 
'  with  the  instructions  of  the  Society,  consult  the  interest  of 
1  the  Colony,  and  abide  strictly  by  the  sense  of  the  Constitu- 
£  tion  as  far  as  he  understood  them  in  all  the  regulations  he 

<  should  establish;   that  he  intended  to  represent  the  Society 
{  as  if  present;  that  no  more  nor  more  rigid  laws  should  be 
f  passed  than  were  judged  necessary;  and  that  laws  once 
1  passed,  it  need  not  be  said  must  be  obeyed,  or  the  penalty 
i  suffered;  that  he  sincerely  devoted  himself,  while  Divine 
'  Providence  should  continue  him  in  his  present  situation,  to 

<  the  welfare  of  the  settlement.     And  his  first  wish  was  to 
1  see  it  prosperous.     He  sympathized  with  not  a  few  present, 
1  who  had  encountered  and  sustained  dangers  and  hardships 
(  of  a  trying  nature.     It  was  the  wish  of  the  Society,  it  was 
1  his  wish  to  see  them  as  soon  as  possible,  rewarded  for  all 
1  their  sufferings,  by  a  home  abounding  with  peace  and  all  the 
1  comforts  of  this  life,  and  the  best  means  of  preparing  for  one 

*  infinitely  better.     He  had  the  satisfaction  to  regard  himself 
1  as  the  personal  friend  of  many  present,  and  hoped  these  feel- 
1  ings  would  be  interrupted  by  no  fault  or  indiscretion  on 
'  either  part." 

On  the  12th  of  September,  the  Agent  wrote  the  following 
sentences  in  the  Colonial  Journal : 

"Rain  falls  in  floods.  The  sick  all  seem  better  except  Mrs. 
1  Ashrmm.  She  is  speechless,  and  almost  without  the  use 
'  of  her  reason.  There  is  no  rational  hope  of  her  recovery. 
1  All  remedies  on  wilich  her  husband  dares  to  venture,  have 

*  been  tried  in  vain.    He  now  with  a  burdened  heart,  resigns 

*  her  up  to  her  God,  and  scarcely  able  to  support  himself, 

<  painfully  watches  over  what  he  considers  the  last  hours  of 

*  her  mortal  existence.     When  last  possessed  of  the  power  of 


LIFE    OP    AST1MUN.  133 

c  reflection,  she  declared  herself  happy  in  her  God  —  and  to 

<  possess  not  a  wish  which  was  not  absorbed  in  His  holy  will. 

*  The  reading  of  the  Scriptures  seemed  perceptibly  to  feed  and 
1  revive  her  faith  in  the  precious  Redeemer.     She  seemed  to 

*  have  intercourse  with  God  in  prayer.     Her  husband  may 
'  follow  her  in  a  few  days,  or  weeks  at  most;  and  he  here 

<  ventures  to  record  it  as  the  first  wish  of  his  heart,  that  the 
'  will  of  the  Lord  may  be  done." 

Mr.  Ashmun  strove  manfully  against  the  power  of  his  dis- 
ease, and  the  tide  of  distressing  thoughts  which  rushed  upon 
him  as  he  beheld  his  wife,  "a  female  of  most  delicate  consti- 

<  tution,  lying  under  the  influence  of  a  mortal  fever,  in  the 

*  corner  of  a  miserable  hut,  (to  ventilate  which  in  a  proper 

*  manner  was  impossible,)  on  a  couch  literally  dripping  with 
4  water,  which  a  roof  of  thatch  was  unable  to  exclude  —  cir- 
4  cumstances  rendering  recovery  impossible,  and  in  which 

*  even  the  dying  struggle  almost  brought  relief  to  the  agoni- 
'  zed  feelings  of  surviving  friendship."*    She  expired   on 
Sunday  the  15th  of  September.     "Her  life,"  observes  he  who 
knew  her  best,  "had  been  that  of  uncommon  devotion  and 
'  self-denial,  inspired  by  a  vigorous  and  practical  faith  in  the 
f  Divine  Saviour  of  the  world;  and  her  end,  according  to  His 

*  promise,  was  ineffable  peace."         To  this,  we  add,  that  in 
the  recollections  of  her  friends,  are  the  impressions  still  vivid 
of  her  zeal  and  charity  in  behalf  of  the  neglected  and  igno- 
rant of  this,  and  the  wretched  heathens  of  other  lands;  and 
how,  from  early  youth,  it  had  been  her  chief  desire,  that  it 
might  be  her  work  -and  honour,  to  guide  the  untaught  chil- 
dren of  some  uncivilized  region,  to  the  God  of  her  hope  and 
salvation, 

It  was  a  kind  dispensation  of  Providence,  that  the  Agent 
was  spared  to  make  the  most  important  arrangements  for  the 
defence  of  the  settlement,  before  the  hand  of  disease  rendered 


*  Mr.  Ashmun's  Letter  to  Captain  Spence, 


134  LIFE    OF    ASEIMUN. 

him  entirely  incapable  of  exertion.  From  the  middle  of 
September,  until  the  first  week  of  November,  he  remained  in 
an  extremely  low  and  dangerous  state,  nearly  incapable  of  mo- 
tion, and  conscious  of  little  but  suffering.  As  soon  as  the 
force  of  his  disease  was  somewhat  abated,  he  discovered  that 
much  had  been  effected  by  the  industry  of  the  people;  that  on 
the  whole  Southern  quarter  of  the  settlement,  the  trees  had 
been  cleared  away  and  so  thrown  together,  as  in  a  good  mea- 
sure to  obstruct  the  approach  of  an  enemy.  Their  routine 
of  daily  labour  and  nightly  watching,  however,  had  been 
such  as  to  forbid  their  completing  the  preparations;  the  Wes- 
tern station  was  still  uncovered;  and  the  long  gun,  intended 
fpr  its  chief  defence,  unmounted.  On  the  7th  of  November, 
the  Agent  was  able  to  "recommence  entries  in  the  Journal, 
1  and  thereafter  daily  to  take  an  increasing  share  in  the  ope- 
f  rations  of  the  people." 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Kings  and  head  men  of  the  coun- 
try, had  held  secret  meetings  to  discuss  and  decide  upon  mea- 
sures of  hostility  to  the  Colony.  By  the  diligence  and  fide- 
lity of  an  individual  whose  name  has  not  been  divulged,  the 
Agent  "was  informed  of  the  sentiments  of  each,  and  often 
furnished  with  the  very  arguments  used  in  their  debates."- 
Some  diversity  of  opinion  existed  in  the  war-council.  Two 
or  three  of  the  Chiefs  were  opposed  to  the  war,  but  a  large 
majority,  not  fewer  than  nine  or  ten,  resolved  to  unite  their 
forces  and  make  an  early  attack  upon  the  settlement.  The 
Agent,  through  one  of  their  number  who  was  undecided  on 
his  course,  informed  them  "that  he  was  perfectly  apprized  of 
'  their  hostile  deliberations,  notwithstanding  their  pains  to 
'  conceal  them;  and  that  if  they  proceeded  to  bring  war  upon 
f  the  Americans,  without  even  asking  to  settle  their  differences 
( in  a  friendly  manner,  they  would  dearly  learn  what  it  was 
1  to  fight  white  men."* 

*  A  phrase  by  which  civilized  people  of  all  colours  and  nations,  are  distin- 
guished in  the  dialect  of  the  coast. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


135 


"On  the  7th  of  November,"  says  Mr.  Ashmun,  "intelligence 
was  received  at  the  Cape  that  the  last  measures  had  been 
taken  preparatory  to  an  assault  on '  the  settlement,  which 
was  ordered  within  four  days.  The  plan  of  attack  being 
left  to  the  head  warriors,  whose  trade  it  is  to  concert  and 
conduct  it,  was  not  to  be  learnt. 

"The  Agent  was  able,  with  assistance,  to  inspect  the  works, 
and  review  the  little  force  the  same  evening.  He  stated  to 
the  people  the  purport  of  the  intelligence  just  received; 
that  'war  was  now  inevitable;  and  the  preservation  of  their 
property,  their  settlement,  their  families,  and  their  lives,  de- 
pended under  God,  wholly  upon  their  own  firmness  and 
good  conduct;  that  a  most  important  point  in  the  defence 
of  the  place,  was  to  secure  a  perfect  uniformity  of  action, 
which  should  assure  to  every  post  and  individual  the  firm 
support  of  every  other.  To  this  end,  they  must  as  punc- 
tiliously obey  their  officers  as  if  their  whole  duty  were  cen- 
tered, as  it  probably  was,  in  that  one  point;  and  every  man 
as  faithfully  exert  himself,  as  if  the  whole  defence  depend- 
ed on  his  single  efforts.  A  coward,  it  was  'hoped,  did  not 
disgrace  their  ranks;  and  as  the  cause  was  emphatically 
that  of  God  and  their  country,  they  might  confidently  ex- 
pect His  blessing  and  success  to  attend  the  faithful  dis- 
charge of  their  duty.' — Every  thing  was  then  disposed  in 
order  of  action,  and  the  men  marched  to  their  posts.  They 
lay  on  their  arms,  with  matches  lighted,  through  the  night. 

"On  the  8th,  the  Agent,  by  an  effort  which  entirely  ex- 
hausted his  strength,  proceeded  to  examine  the  obstruction 
thrown  in  the  way  of  the  avenues  to  the  settlement;  and 
perceived  to  his  extreme  mortification,  that  the  west  quarter 
was  still  capable  of  being  approached  by  a  narrow  path- way, 
without  difficulty;  and  that  the  utmost  exertions  of  the 
workmen  had  accomplished  only  the  mounting  of  the  re- 
volving nine  pounder  at  the  post;  by  which  the  path  was 
enfiladed;  but  that  the  platform  was  still  left  entirely  ex- 


136  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

*  posed.     The  eastern  quarter  was  about  equally  open  to  the 

*  approach  of  the  enemy,  but  the  station  was  protected  by  a 

*  stockade,  and  a  steep  ledge  of  rocks  made  the  access  difficult. 

"Picket  guards  of  four  men  each  were  detailed,  to  be  posted 
'  one  hundred  yards  in  advance  of  each  of  the*  stations, 
4  through  the  night.  No  man  was  allowed  .to  sleep  before 

*  the  following  day,  at  sun-rise;  and  patrols  of  native  Afri- 
i  cans  were  dispersed  through  the  woods  in  every  direction. 
1  An  order  was  given  to  families  occupying  the  most  expos- 

*  ed  houses,  to  sleep  in  such  as  were  more  centrally  situated.* 

"Throughout  the  9th,  the  order  established  on  the  pre- 

*  ceding  day  continued;  and  some  progress  made  in  the  la- 
1  hour  of  falling  trees,  and  otherwise  obstructing  every  prac- 
1  ticable  access  to  the  settlement. 

"SUNDAY,  November  10th.  The  morning  was  devoted, 
1  as  usual,  to  the  refreshment  of  the  settlers,  none  of  whom 
'  had  slept  for  the  twenty-four  hours  preceding.  At  1  P.  M. 
1  all  were  remanded  to  their  fatigue  and  other  duties,  till 
{  sun-set;  when  the  order  appointed  for  the  preceding  night 
1  was  resumed:  The  women  and  children  attended  divine 
1  service. 

"Intelligence  had  reached  the  Agent  early  in  the  day,  that 
1  the  hostile  forces  had  made  a  movement,  and  were  crossing 
1  the  Montserado  river  a  few  miles  above  the  settlement;  but 

*  the  patrols  made  no  discovery  through  the  day. — At  sun- 
i  set,  however,  the  enemy  again  put  themselves  in  motion, 
'  and  at  an  early  hour  of  the  night,  had  assembled,  as  was  af- 
1  terwards  learnt,  to  the  number  of  six  to  nine  hundred  men, 

*  on  the  peninsula,  where,  at  the  distance  of  less  than  half  a 
<  mile  to  the  westward  of  the  settlement,  they  encamped  till 

*  near  morning.    Their  camp,  afterwards  examined,  extend- 

*  In  the  multitude  of  cares  devolving  on  the  Agent,  who  dictated  most  of  his 
instructions  from  his  bed,  the  measures  necessary  to  secure  the  proper  obser- 
vance of  this  order  were  unhappily  omitted;  and  the  rashness  of  the  misguided 
individuals  who  disobeyed  it,  met  with  a  signal  punishment. 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  137 

<  Bd  half  a  mile  in  length,  and  induces  a  strong  probability 

<  that  the  number  of  warriors  assembled  on  this  occasion,  has 

*  been  altogether  underrated.* 

"The  most  wakeful  vigilance  on  the  part  of  the  settlers,  was 

<  kept  up  through  the  night. — But,  with  a  fatality  which  was 
i  quite  of  a  piece  with  all  the  hindrances  that  had  impeded 
1  the  progress  of  the  defences  on  the  western  quarter,  the 
'  picket-guard  in  advance  of  that  post,  ventured  on  a  violation 
'  of  their  orders,  by  leaving  their  station,  at  the  first  dawn  of 
'  day;  at  which  it  was  their  duty  to  remain  till  sun-rise.  The 
(  native  force  was  already  in  motion,  and  followed  directly  in 
'  the  rear  of  the  picket-guard.     The  latter  had  just  rejoined 

*  their  gun,  about  which  ten  men  were  now  assembled;  when 

*  the  enemy  suddenly  presenting  a  front  of  ten  yards  in  width, 
'  at  sixty  distant,  delivered  their  fire,  and  rushed  forward 
1  with  their  spears  to  seize  the  post.     Several  men  were  killed 
'  and  disabled  by  the  first  fire,  and  the  remainder  driven  from 
1  their  gun  without  discharging  it.     Then,  retiring  upon  the 
1  centre,  (see  the  arrangement  of  the  guns,  p.  131,)  threw  the 
'  reserve  there  stationed,  into  momentary  confusion;  and  had 
;  the  enemy  at  this  instant,  pressed  their  advantage,  it  is  hard- 

<  ly  conceivable  that  they  should  have  failed  of  entire  success. 

<  Their  avidity  for  plunder  was  their  defeat.     Four  houses 
1  in  that  outskirt  of  the  settlement,  had  fallen  into  their  hands. 

*  Every  man  on  whose  savage  rapacity  so  resistless  a  tempta- 
i  tion  happened  to  operate,  rushed  impetuously  upon  the  pil- 
1  lage  thus  thrown  in  his  way.     The  movement  of  the  main 

*  body  was  disordered  and  impeded;  and  an  opportunity  af- 
f  forded  the  Agent,  assisted  principally  by  the  Rev.  Lot  Gary 
1  to  rally  the  broken  force  of  the  settlers.     The  two  central 
c  guns,  with  a  part  of  their  own  men,  and  several  who  had 

*  The  number  given  above,  is  deduced  from  the  discordant  accounts  given 
by  the  kings  of  the  country,  after  the  termination  of  hostilities;  some  of  whom 
rated  it  much  higher;  but  all  were  ignorant  of  the  true  number,  and  all  were 
interested  to  state  it  as  low  as  would  obtain  credit. 

18 


138  LIFE    OF   ASHMUN. 

*  been  driven  from  the  western  station,  were,  with  a  little  ex- 
'  ertion,  brought  back  into  action,  and  formed  in  the  line  of 
1  two  slight  buildings,  thirty  yards  in  advance  of  the  enemy. 

"The  second  discharge  of  a  brass  field-piece,  double-shot- 
'  ted  with  ball  and  grape,  brought  the  whole  body  of  the  ene- 

*  my  to  a  stand.     That  gun  was  well  served,  and  appeared  to 
1  do  great  execution.     The  havoc  would  have  been  greater, 
c  had  not  the  fire,  from  motives  of  humanity,  been  so  directed 
1  as  to  clear  the  dwellings  about  which  the  enemy's  force  was 

*  gathered  in  heavy  masses.     These  houses  were  known  at 
1  that  moment  to  contain  more  than  twelve  helpless  women 
1  and  children. 

"The  eastern  and  southern  posts,  were,  from  their  situa- 

*  tion,  precluded  from  rendering  any  active  assistance  on  the 
1  occasion;  but  the  officers  and  men  attached  to  them,  deserve 

*  the  highest  praise,  of  doing  their  duty  by  maintaining  their 
{  stations,  and  thus  protecting  the  flank  and  rear  of  the  few 
'  whose  lot  it  was  to  be  brought  to  action. 

"A  few  musketeers  with  E.  Johnson  at  their  head,  by  pass- 
'  ing  round  upon  the  enemy's  flank,  served  to  increase  the 

*  consternation  which  was  beginning  to  pervade  their  un- 

*  wieldy  body.     In  about  twenty  minutes  after  the  settlers 
1  had  taken  their  stand,  the  front  of  the  enemy  began  to  re- 
(  coil.    But  from  the  numerous  obstructions  in  their  rear, 
( the  entire  absence  of  discipline,  and  the  extreme  difficulty 
c  of  giving  a  reversed  motion  to  so  large  a  body,  a  small  part 
c  only  of  which  was  directly  exposed  to  danger,  and  the  delay 
1  occasioned  by  the  practice  of  carrying  off  all  their  dead  and 
c  wounded,  rendered  a  retreat  for  some  minutes  longer,  irn- 

*  possible.      The  very  violence  employed  by  those   in   the 
<  front,  in  their  impatience  to  hasten  it,  by  increasing  the  con- 
c  fusion,  produced  an  effect  opposite  to  that  intended.     The 
1  Americans  perceiving  their  advantage,  now  regained  pos- 
(  session  of  the  western  post,  and  instantly  brought  the  long 
1  nine  to  rake  the  whole  line  of  the  enemy.    Imagination  can 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  139 

c  scarcely  figure  to  itself  a  throng  of  human  beings  in  a  more 

*  capital  state  of  exposure  to  the  destructive  power  of  the  ma- 
(  chinery  of  modern  warfare  !     Eight  hundred  men  were  here 
c  pressed  shoulder  to  shoulder,  in  so  compact  a  form  that  a 
;  child  might  easily  walk  upon  their  heads  from  one  end  of 
1  the  mass  to  the  other,  presenting  in  their  rear  a  breadth  of 
1  rank  equal  to  twenty  or  thirty  men,  and  all  exposed  to  a  gun 
'  of  great  power,  raised  on  a  platform,  at  only  thirty  to  sixty 
'  yards  distance  !     Every  shot  literally  spent  its  force  in  a  sol- 
'  id  mass  of  living  human  flesh  !     Their  fire  suddenly  termi- 
'  nated.    A  savage  yell  was  raised,  which  filled  the  dismal 
'  forest  with  a  momentary  horror.  It  gradually  died  away;  and 
1  the  whole  host  disappeared.     At  eight  o'clock  the  well 
4  known  signal  of  their  dispersion  and  return  to  their  homes, 
'  was  sounded,  and  many  small  parties  seen  at  a  distance,  di- 

1  rectly  afterwards,  moving  off  in  different  directions.  One 
1  large  canoe  employed  in  reconveying  a  party  across  the 
£  mouth  of  the  Montserado,  venturing  within  the  range  of  the 
1  long  gun,  was  struck  by  a  shot,  and  several  men  killed. 

"On  the  part  of  the  settlers,  it  was  soon  discovered  that 
'  considerable  injury  had  been  sustained. 

"One  woman*  who  had  imprudently  passed  the  night  in 
1  the  house  first  beset  by  the  enemy,  had  received  thirteen 
1  wounds,  and  been  thrown  aside  as  dead.  Another,!  flying 
1  from  her  house  with  her  two  infant  children,  received  a 
e  wound  in  the  head,  from  a  cutlass,  and  was  robbed  of  both 
c  her  babes;  but  providentially  escaped.  A  young  married 
(  woman, t  with  the  mother  of  five  small  children,  finding 
f  the  house  in  which  they  slept  surrounded  by  savage  ene- 
i  miesj  barricadoed  the  door,  in  the  vain  hope  of  safety.  It 
'  was  forced.  Each  of  the  women  then  seizing  an  axe,  held 

*  Mrs.  Ann  Hawkins;  who  after  long  and  incredible  sufferings  recovered, 
and  is  yet  living. 

t  Mrs.  Minty  Draper, 
t  Mary  Tines. 


140  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

4  the  irresolute  barbarians  in  check  for  several  minutes  Ion- 
{  ger.  Having  discharged  their  guns,  they  seemed  desirous 
1  of  gaining  the  shelter  of  the  house  previous  to  reloading. — 
{  At  length,  with  the  aid  of  their  spears,  and  by  means  of  a 
c  general  rush,  they  overcame  their  heroine  adversaries,  and 
1  instantly  stabbed  the  youngest  to  the  heart.  The  mother, 
1  instinctively  springing  for  her  suckling  babe,  which  recoil- 
'  ed  through  fright,  and  was  left  behind,  rushed  through  a 
'  small  window  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  house,  and  provi- 
(  dentially  escaped  to  the  lines,  unhurt,  between  two  heavy 
*  fires. 

"The  Agent  had  caused  a  return  to  be  made  at  9  (  o'clock, 
'  which  certainly  exhibited  a  melancholy  statement  of  the 
£  loss  sustained  by  the  little  company.  But  it  was  animat- 
'  ing  to  perceive  that  none — not  even  the  wounded  in  their 
1  severest  sufferings,  were  dispirited,  or  insensible  of  the  sig- 
'  nal  providence  to  which  they  owed  the  successful  issue  of 
1  their  struggle. 

"It  never  has  been  possible  to  ascertain  the  number  of  the 
1  enemy  killed  or  disabled  on  this  occasion.  The  only  entry 
'  made  on  the  subject  in  the  Colonial  Journal,  is  dated  No- 
*  vember  15th;  and  states,  'The  following  circumstances 
'  prove  the  carnage  to  have  been,  for  the  number  engaged, 
'  great.  A  large  canoe,  from  which  the  dead  and  wounded 
'  could  be  seen  to  be  taken,  on  its  arriving  at  the  opposite 
'  side  of  the  Montserado,  and  which  might  easily  carry 
'  twelve  men,  was  employed  upwards  of  two  hours  in  ferry- 
1  ing  them  over.  In  this  time,  not  less  than  ten  or  twelve 
( trips  must  have  been  made.  It  is  also  known,  that  many  of 
1  the  wounded  were  conveyed  away  along  the  south  beach, 
1  on  mats;  and  that  the  dead  left  of  necessity  in  the  woods, 

*  where  many  fell,  are  carried  off  by  their  friends  every  night. 

*  But  two  days  ago,  twenty-seven  bodies  were  discovered  by 
c  a  party  of  friendly  Condoes  employed  by  the  Agent  for  the 
1  purpose.     On  entering  the  wood,  the  offensive  effluvium 
4  from  putrid  bodies,  is  at  this  time  intolerable.' 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  141 

"The  numerical  force  of  the  settlers  amounted  to  thirty- 

*  five  persons,  including  six  native  youths  not  sixteen  years  of 

*  age.     Of  this  number,  about  one  half  were  engaged. 

"At  9  o'clock,  the  Agent,  after  advising  with  the  most  sen- 
c  sible  mechanics,  and  others  of  the  settlers,  issued  an  order 
1  for  contracting  the  lines,  by  excluding  about  one-fourth  part 
'  of  the  houses,  and  surrounding  the  remainder,  including 
c  the  stores,  with  a  musket-proof  stockade;  at  the  angles  of 
{  which,  all  the  guns  were  to  be  posted.  The  fence  palings 
£  and  building  materials  of  individuals,  were  taken  for  this 
'  palisade,  of  which,  before  night,  more  than  eiglity  yards 
'  were  completed. 

"This  work  was  resumed  early  the  next  day,  and  far  ad- 
c  vanced  towards  a  completion,  before  it  was  judged  safe  to 
1  devote  an  hour  even  to  the  melancholy  duty  of  burying  the 
1  dead;  which  was  performed  on  the  evening  of  the  12th. — 
1  By  contracting  the  lines,  the  number  of  men  necessary  to 
c  guard  them,  was  considerably  reduced;  and  thus  a  relief  for 
1  the  people  obtained,  which  their  sickly  and  feeble  state  ab- 
'  solutely  called  for.  As  early  as  the  14th,  one-half  of  their 
£  number  were  released  from  camp  duty,  after  8  o'clock  in 
'  the  morning;  but  every  man  remanded  to  his  post  through 
£  the  night.  An  additional  gun  was  mounted  and  posted  on 
1  the  same  day:  on  the  17th,  the  artillerists  were  newly  or- 
1  ganized;  and  every  day  witnessed  either  some  improve- 
1  ments  in  the  discipline  of  the  men,  or  in  the  means  of  de- 
1  fence  and  annoyance. 

"It  could  not  fail,  in  the  state  of  utter  abandonment  and 
c  solitude  to  which  this  little  company  was  reduced,  to  be 
'  felt  as  an  encouraging  circumstance,  that  Tom  Bassa,  a 
£  prince  of  some  distinction,  should,  at  this  moment,  have 
1  sent  a  message  to  assure  the  Colony  of  his  friendship;  and 
i  in  testimony  of  his  sincerity,  to  have  forwarded  a  small  pre- 
1  sent  of  the  productions  of  the  country. 
"The  enclosure  was  completed  on  Sunday  morning,  the 


142  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

*  17th;  when  about  one-half  of  the  people  had  the  privilege 
'  of  celebrating  Divine  service — a  privilege  which  many  of 
1  them  very  highly  appreciated. 

"It  is  not  to  be  either  concealed,  or  made  the  object  of  a  too 
1  severe  censure,  that  several  of  the  people  should  have  yield- 
c  ed,  as  soon  as  leisure  was  afforded  for  reflection,  to  the  dis~ 
1  couraging  circumstances  of  their  situation.  There  were 
{  not  at  this  time,  exclusive  of  rice,  fifteen  days'  provisions  in 

*  store.     Every  individual  was  subjected  to  an  allowance 

*  which  could  not  sustain  animal  strength,  under  the  burden 

*  of  so  many  severe  and  extraordinary  labours.     Nothing 

*  could  be  obtained  from  the  country.     Seven  infant  children 
'  were  in  the  hands  of  an  enemy  infuriated  by  his  recent  loss- 
6  es.     The  native  forces  were  certainly  not  dispersed;  but  it 
c  was  no  longer  in  the  Agent's  power  either  to  learn  the  inten- 
1  tions  of  the  chiefs,  or  to  convey  any  message  through  to 
6  them.    Add  to  these  unpleasant  ingredients  of  their  lot,  the 
'  more  cruel  circumstance,  perhaps  of  all,  that  the  ammuni- 
1  tion  of  the  Colony  was  insufficient  for  a  single  hour's  de- 
'  fence  of  the  place  if  hotly  attacked,  and  an  apology  may  sure- 
'  ly  be  found  for  the  very  alarming  despondency  which  was 
'  invading  the  minds  of  several  of  the  settlers. — It  was  a  hap- 
1  py  providence  that,  at  this  critical  moment,  the  Agent's  health 
1  was  so  far  mended,  as  to  put  it  in  his  power  often  to  attend 
1  the  men,  at  their  posts  and  labours,  by  night  and  day — to 
'  animate  them  by  every  method  which  his  invention  could 
1  suggest — and  when  these  failed,  to  draw  from  their  despair 
1  itself,  an  argument  for  a  faithful  discharge  of  their  duty. — 
i  In  this  difficult  labour,  he  was  ably  and  successfully  sup- 

1  ported  by  several  of  the  most  sensible  and  influential  of  the 
<  Colonists." 

An  earnest,  but  ineffectual  effort  was  now  made  to  engage 
the  Kings  in  a  treaty  of  peace.  The  state  of  the  settlement, 
as  well  as  motives  of  humanity,  urged  that  no  proper  means 
should  be  neglected  of  bringing  the  war  to  a  termination. 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  143 

The  enemy  was  assured  "that  the  Americans  came  with 
1  friendly  intentions;  that  they  had  evinced  those  friendly 
*  intentions  in  all  their  intercourse  with  the  people  of  the 
'  country;  that  they  were  willing  to  settle  a  peace,  but  were 
'  also  prepared  to  carry  on  the  war,  and  render  it  immensely 
1  more  destructive  than  it  had  yet  been  found  to  their  foes." — • 
But  though  messages  were  daily  exchanged  with  the  Chiefs 
for  a  time,  and  though  they  professed  a  pacific  disposition,  it 
was  known  that  they  were  earnestly  engaged  in  securing  al- 
lies from  all  quarters,  and  the  Agent  made  diligent  prepara- 
tions for  a  second  attack. 

"The  23d  of  November  was  devoted  to  humiliation,  thanks- 
1  giving,  and  prayer,  both  on  account  of  the  recent  success, 
1  and  losses,  and  the  actual  perilous  state  of  the  settlement. 
c  Two  days  afterwards,  the  most  pressing  wants  of  the  peo- 
1  pie  were  relieved  by  a  small  purchase  from  a  transient  tra- 
1  der  touching  at  the  Cape." 

A  generous  foreigner,  Captain  H.  Brassey  of  Liverpool, 
arrived  on  the  29th,  "and  nearly  exhausted  his  own  stores  to 
1  relieve  the  distresses  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  exerted 
1  an  extensive  influence,  acquired  by  long  acquaintance  with 
1  the  Chiefs,  to  disarm  their  hostilities."  But  in  vain.  "It 

<  was  ascertained  to  be  their  purpose  to  renew  that  very  night, 
*  with  a  large  reinforcement,  their  efforts  to  destroy  the  set- 
i  tlement.     The  presence  of  Captain  Brassey's  large  ship  in 
1  the  harbour,  induced  them  to  defer  the  attack." 

In  a  letter  dated  November  30,  addressed  to  the  Board,  Mr. 
Ashmun  writes:  "All  the  tribes  around  us  are  combined  in  war 
'  against  us.  Their  principal  object  is  plunder.  We  are 
i  surrounded  only  with  a  slight  barricade,  and  can  only  raise 
1  a  force  of  thirty  men.  Have  not  time,  limits,  nor  the  means 
c  to  erect  an  effectual  and  permanent  fortification.  Nor  any 
i  means  except  what  casually  offers  of  sending  to  Sierra  Le- 

<  one  for  aid.     We  endeavour  to  make  God  our  trust.    I  have 
1  no  idea  but  to  wait  here  for  His  deliverance — or  to  lay  our 


144  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

'  bones  on  Cape  Montserado."  After  many  suggestions  in 
regard  to  supplies  by  future  expeditions,  he  concludes :  "Dear 
'  Sir,  pray  for  us  fervently,  that  if  living,  God  Almighty 
'  would  be  with  us." 

Mr.  Ashmun  thus  describes  the  contest  on  the  morning 
of  the  2d  of  December : 

"The  Agent,  for  the  first  time,  spent  the  whole  night  (29th) 
1  at  the  different  posts;  and  had  the  satisfaction  to  perceive 
{  every  man  attentive  to  his  duty,  and  every  thing  connected 
1  with  the  defence  in  a  state  of  the  most  perfect  preparation. 
1  The  wood  had  been  cleared  for  a  considerable  space  about 
'  the  town.  The  enemy  in  order  to  approach  within  musket 
1  shot  of  the  works,  was  obliged  to  place  himself  unsheltered, 
c  in  the  open  field;  and  could  advance  upon  no  point  which 
£  was  not  exposed  to  the  cross-fire  of  two  or  more  of  the  posts. 
'  The  stockade  for  a  distance  on  each  side  of  all  the  several 
i  stations,  was  rendered  impenetrable  to  musket  shot;  and  in 
'  every  part  afforded  a  shelter,  behind  which  the  defenders 
'  might  indulge  the  confidence  of  being  nearly  secure — a 
c  point  of  the  very  first  importance  to  be  secured  to  the  un- 
c  practised  soldier. 

"November  30th  was  spent  by  the  people  in  the  order  of  ac- 

<  tion,  as  it  was  known  that  the  enemy  in  the  neighbourhood 
1  were  in  the  actual  observation  of  all  that  passed  within  the 
'  lines.    No  pickets  could  be  safely  trusted  during  the  ensu- 

<  ing  night  without  the  enclosure;   but  the  men  attached  to 
1  the  different  stations  were  ranged  along  the  stockade  at 
'  five  yards  distance  from  each  other,  with  orders  to  repair  to 
'  their  guns  on  the  moment  the  alarm  was  given.     The 
£  Agent,  spent  with  the  fatigue  of  waking  two  successive 
1  nights,  had  reclined  at  thirty  minutes  past  four,  the  2d  inst. 
c  upon  the  light  arms  which  he  carried,  when  the  onset  was 
'  made.    The  works  were  attacked  at  the  same  moment  on 
1  nearly  opposite  sides.    The  enemy's  western  division  had 
*  made  their  way  along  the  muddy  margin  of  the  river,  un- 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  145 

*  der  the  protection  of  the  bank,  to  the  north-western  angle 
4  of  the  palisade;   when,  on  rising  the  bank  so  as  to  become 
1  visible  from  the  western  post,  they  had  opened  upon  it  a 
'  sudden  and  brisk  fire,  which  was  promptly  and  very  steadi- 

*  ly  returned  by  the  iron  gun,  supported  by  the  reserve  field- 

*  piece  from  the  centre.     The  assailants  were  repulsed  with 

*  considerable  loss.     Ten  minutes  afterwards  they  renewed 

*  the  onset,  and  forcing  their  way  higher  up  the  bank  than 
1  before,  contended  with  greater  obstinacy,  and  suffered  still 

*  more  severely.    A  third  attempt  was  made  to  carry  this 
'  post;  but  with  the  same  ill  success. 

'•On  the  opposite  quarter  the  assault  had  commenced  at  the 

*  same  moment,  with  still  greater  vigour.     A  large  body  had 

*  concealed  themselves  under  a  precipitous  ledge  of  rocks  for- 

<  ty  yards  distant;  whence  they  crept  nearly  concealed  from 
'  view,  within  the  same  number  of  feet  of  the  station;  when 
'  they  suddenly  rose,  delivered  their  fire,  and  rushed  forward 
'  with  the  utmost  fury.  At  this  moment,  the  two-gun  battery 
{  was  unmasked,  and  opened  upon  them  with  immediate  ef- 
1  feet.     After  a  very  few  discharges,  the  body  of  the  enemy 
1  having  thrown  themselves  flat  upon  the  earth,  disappeared 
c  behind  the  rocks.     Their  marksmen  had  taken  their  sta- 
'  tions  behind  projecting  rocks,  fallen  trees,  and  large  ant- 
{  hills,  and  still  kept  up  a  constant  and  well  directed  fire;  un- 
4  der  the  cover  of  which  the  main  body  rallied  and  returned 
1  to  the  attack  not  less  than  four  times;  and  were  as  often  re- 
4  pulsed  by  the  well  directed  fire  of  the  large  guns;  which 
1  was  purposely  reserved  for  those  occasions. 

"The  Agent  at  this  moment  perceiving  the  enemy  in'mo- 
4  tion  towards  the  right,  under  cover  of  a  small  eminence 

<  which  favoured  their  design,  proceeded  to  the  southern  post, 
1  which  had  not  yet  been  engaged,  and  ordered  it  to  open 

*  upon  them  the  moment  their  movement  brought  them  with- 
1  in  the  range  of  its  guns.     The  order  was  punctually  obey- 

*  ed;  which  exposed  a  large  number  of  the  assailants  to  a 

19 


146  ,  LIFE    OP   ASI1MUN. 

c  galling  cannonade  both  in  front  and  flank,  in  a  situation 
1  where  their  own  arms  could  prove  of  no  effectual  s'ervice  to 
c  them.  The  assault  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  town  had 
'  been  already  repulsed;  and  the  signal  for  a  general  retreat 
1  immediately  followed.  This  order  was  obeyed  with  such 
c  promptitude,  that  the  most  entire  silence  succeeded,  and 
(  every  warrior  disappeared  almost  instantaneously. 

"Not  the  most  veteran  troops  could  have  behaved  with 
1  more  coolness,  or  shown  greater  firmness  than  the  settlers, 
{  on  this  occasion.  Such  had  been  their  hardships,  and  dis- 
1  tressing  suspense  for  the  last  twenty  days,  that  the  first  vol- 
'  ley  of  the  enemy's  fire  brought  sensible  relief  to  every  breast; 
'  for  it  gave  assurance  that  the  time  had  arrived  which  was  to 
c  put  a  period  to  their  anxieties. 

"The  final  repulse  of  the  assailants  on  the  western  quarter 
1  took  place  in  seventy  minutes  from  the  commencement  of  the 
£  contest;  the  attack  upon  the  eastern  post,  was  prolonged 
{  ninety  minutes;  and  of  the  two,  was  much  the  most  obsti- 
£  nate  and  bloody.  Three  of  the  men  serving  at  the  guns  of 
1  that  station,  Gardiner,  Crook,  and  Tines,  were  very  badly, 
1  the  last  mortally,  wounded.  The  Agent  received  three 
1  bullets  through  his  clothes,  but  providentially  escaped  un- 

<  hurt.    As  the  natives  in  close  action  load  their  muskets 
« (which  are  of  the  largest  calibre)  with  copper  and  iron  slugs, 
1  often  to  the  enormous  measure  of  twelve  inches,  their  fire 
1  is  commonly  very  destructive.    In  this  conflict  of  scarcely 

<  an  hour  and  a  half,  the  quantity  of  shot  lodged  in  the  paling, 
1  and  actually  thrown  within  the  lines,  is    altogether  in- 
'  credible;  and  that  it  took  effect  in  so  few  cases,  can  only  be 
1  regarded  as  the  effect  of  the  special  guardianship  of  Divine 

*  Providence. 

"The  number  of  assailants  has  been  variously  estimated; 
1  but  can  never  be  correctly  ascertained.    It  is  known  to  be 

<  much  greater  than  of  those  engaged  on  the  llth.    Their 

*  loss,  although  from  the  quantities  of  blood  with  which  the 


LIFE    OP   ASHMUN.  147 

*  field  was  found  drenched,  certainly  considerable,  was  much 
<  less  than  in  the  former  attack. 

"The  Agent  has  often  said  that  their  plan  of  assault  was 
1  the  very  best  that  they  could  have  devised.  It  was  certainly 
1  sustained  and  renewed  with  a  resolution  that  would  not  dis- 
1  grace  the  best  disciplined  troops.  But  they  were  not  fully 
1  apprised  of  the  power  of  well  served  artillery.  None  of  the 
4  kings  of  this  part  of  the  coast  are  without  cannon.  But  to 
'  load  a  great  gun,  is  with  them  the  business  of  half  an  hour; 
c  and  they  were  seriously  disposed  to  attribute  to  sorcery  the 
1  art  of  charging  and  firing  these  destructive  machines  from 
c  four  to  six  times  in  the  minute." 

The  result  of  this  action  disheartened  the  foe,  and  animated 
for  a  moment,  the  hopes  of  the  Colonists.  But  the  situation 
of  the  latter,  was  most  distressing.  The  small  number  still 
more  reduced — no  aid  near — provisions  scanty,  so  that  for  six 
weeks  they  had  been  on  an  allowance  of  meat  and  bread;  the 
sufferings  of  the  wounded,  relieved  by  little  surgical  know- 
ledge, less  skill  and  no  proper  instruments,  indescribable;  and 
on  an  equal  distribution  of  the  shot  among  the  guns,  not  three 
rounds  remaining  to  each !  "We  cried  unto  God,"  says  Mr. 
Ashmun,  (in  his  letter  to  the  Board  of  the  7th  of  December,) 
"to  send  us  aid,  or  prepare  us,  and  the  Society  at  home,  for 
'  the  heaviest  earthly  calamity  we  could  dread." 

On  the  following  night,  an  officer  at  one  of  the  stations, 
alarmed  by  some  movement  in  the  vicinity,  discharged  seve- 
ral muskets  and  large  guns,  and  this  circumstance  was  provi- 
dentially the  means  of  bringing  relief  to  the  almost  despair- 
ing settlement. 

The  British  Colonial  Schooner  Prince  Regent,  laden  with 
military  stores,  and  having  on  board  Major  Laing,  the  cele- 
brated African  traveller,  with  a  pme  crew  commanded  by 
Midshipman  Gordon,  and  eleven  seamen  of  his  British  Ma- 
jesty's sloop  of  war  Driver,  was  at  this  time  passing  the  Cape 
on  her  way  to  Cape  Coast  Castle,  when  her  officers  arrested 


148 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 


by  the  sound  of  cannon  at  midnight  from  the  shore,  resolved 
to  ascertain  the  cause  of  so  extraordinary  a  circumstance. — 
No  sooner  did  they  learn  the  truth,  and  behold  a  little  compa- 
ny of  brave  men  contending  for  their  lives  against  the  leagued 
forces  of  nearly  every  barbarous  tribe  on  that  part  of  the 
coast,  than  they  generously  offered  all  the  aid  in  their  power. 
By  the  influence  of  Captain  Laing,  the  Chiefs  were  bound  to 
a  truce,  and  to  refer  all  matters  of  difference  between  them 
and  the  Colony,  to  the  judgment  of  the  Governor  of  Sierra 
Leone;  while  Midshipman  Gordon,  with  eleven  seamen,  vol- 
untarily consented  to  remain,  and  see  that  the  agreement  was 
preserved  inviolate.  As  the  Chiefs  had  no  just  grounds  of 
complaint,  the  provision  for  a  reference  was  never  afterwards 
recollected.  The  Prince  Regent  left  at  the  Colony  a  supply 
of  ammunition,  and  took  her  departure  on  the  4th  of  Decem- 
ber. From  that  hour  the  foundations  of  the  Colony  were 
laid  in  a  firm  and  lasting  PEACE. 

And  who  was  he,  that  "single  white  man,"  on  that  distant 
forest-clad  sh9re,  unbroken  in  spirit,  though  bowed  beneath 
the  heavy  hand  of  sorrow  and  sickness,  casting  fear  to  the 
winds,  directing  and  heading  by  day  and  night,  a  feeble,  un- 
disciplined, dejected,  unfortified  band  of  thirty-five  emigrants, 
against  whom  the  very  elements  seemed  warring,  while  a 
thousand  to  fifteen  hundred  armed  savages  were  rushing  to 
destroy  them?  Who  was  he,  that  in  reliance1  on  God  for 
wisdom  and  might,  imparted  such  skill  and  courage  to  this  lit- 
tle company, — so  ordered  every  plan  and  guided  every  move- 
ment; that  the  fierce  foe  retired  panic  struck  before  them,  and 
they  stood  rescued  and  redeemed  from  impending  destruc- 
tion? 

Was  he  a  veteran  soldier,  inured  to  danger,  familiar  with 
suffering,  and  bred  amid  scenes  of  battle  and  blood  ?  Was 
he  there  adorned  by  badges  of  military  honour,  conscious  of 
a  reputation  won  by  deeds  of  "high  emprise,"  and  stimu- 
lated to  valour  by  hopes  of  glory  and  fears  of  disgrace? 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  149 

That  was  no  tried,  no  ambitious  soldier.    He  was  a  young 
man,  bred  to  letters,  of  retired  habits,  educated  for  the  Minis- 
try of  Christ,  unknown  to  fame, — the  victim  of  disappoint- 
ment, burdened  with  debt,  and  touched  by  undeserved  re- 
proach.   He  had  visited  Africa  in  hope  of  obtaining  the 
means  of  doing  justice  to  his  creditors;  and  impelled  by  Hu- 
manity and  Religion,  had  consented,  without  any  fixed  com- 
pensation, to  give,  should  they  be  required,  his  services  to  the 
Colony.    He  found  it  in  peril  of  extinction.    He  hesitated 
not.  He  failed  not  to  redeem  his  pledge.  He  gathered- strength 
from  difficulty,  and  motive  from  danger.    No  thronging  and 
admking  spectators  cheered  him;  [no  glorious  pomp  and  cir- 
cumstance were  there  to  throw  a  brightness  and  a  beauty 
even  upon  the  features  and  terrors  of  death.    He  stood  strong 
in  duty,  covered  by  the  shield  of  Faith.    His  frame  shaken 
by  disease;  the  partner  of  his  life  struck  down  by  his  side; 
amid  the  groans  of  the  afilicted  and  in  the  shadow  of  Hope's 
dim  eclipse,  he  planned  and  executed,  with  the  ability  of  the 
bravest  and  most  experienced  General,  measures  which  saved 
the  settlement,  and  secured  for  Liberty  and  Christianity,  a 
perpetual  home  and  heritage  in  Africa.    Raised  up  and  gui- 
ded by  an  Almighty,  though  invisible  Hand,  to  build  a  city 
of  righteousness  on  that  shore  of  oppression,  before  which  the 
makers  of  idols  should  be  confounded,  and  those  in  chains 
come  over*  to  fall  down  in  worship,  and  exclaim  as  they  be- 
held her  light,  surely  God  is  in  Thee,  no  weapon  formed 
against  him  could  prosper;  no  wasting  destruction  by  day,  or 
pestilence  walking  in  darkness,  had  power  to  defeat  the  work. 

*  Isaiah  45th  chapter,  14th  and  16th  verses, 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


THE  agitations  of  this  sanguinary  conflict,  were  succeeded 
by  the  ravages  of  disease  and  the  gloom  of  death.  Within 
four  weeks  from  the  time  of  the  departure  of  the  Prince  Re- 
gent, over'  Midshipman  Gordon  and  eight  out  of  the  eleven 
seamen  who  remained  with  him,  the  graves  were  closed. — 
The  conduct  of  these  generous  Englishmen,  deserves  to  be 
remembered  forever.  Hardly  had  they  stepped  on  the  Afri- 
can shore,  to  assist  a  few  humble,  distressed,  but  brave  men, 
to  whom  they  were  bound  only  by  the  common  ties  of  hu- 
manity, from  whom  they  could  expect  no  reward,  and  who 
might  have  perished  almost  unobserved,  when  they  fell  and 
were  borne  in  the  arms  and  amid  the  lamentations  of  those 
whom  they  came  to  relieve,  to  the  place  of  the  dead. 

The  funeral  of  Midshipman  Gordon,  was  attended  by  near- 
ly all  the  Colonists,  and  by  the  officers  of  several  vessels, 
(two  of  them  armed  cruisers)  then  lying  in  the  harbour,  and 
his  remains  were  interred,  shrouded  in  the  British  flag,  with 
the  honours  of  war.  "To  express,"  said  Mr.  Ashmun  in  an- 


152  LIFE    OF   ASHMUN. 

nouncing  the  melancholy  event  to  Lieutenant  Rotheray  of 
the  British  Navy,  "the  regret  I  feel,  that  a  measure  so  full  of 
c  benevolence  as  the  leaving  this  little  force  with  us;  should 
f  have  so  disastrous  an  issue,  it  is  superfluous  to  attempt,  as  I 
4  should  but  wrong  my  own  feelings.  We  have  derived  from 
{ the  presence  of  these  unfortunate  men,  a  great  benefit:  it  as- 
{  sisted  in  a  powerful  manner  to  allay  the  warlike  spirit  of  the 
c  natives,  inspired  a  fresh  spirit  of  resolution  into  our  people, 
1  and  relieved  them  for  nearly  three  weeks  from  a  part  of  their 
c  almost  insupportable  burthens.  I  shall  rest  it  with  the  hon- 
c  our  of  my  Government,  to  make  such  an  acknowledgment 
1  of  the  favours  rendered  by  the  officers  and  other  Agents  of 
'  your's  employed  on  this  coast,  as  justice  and  a  proper  esti- 
(  mate  of  the  beneficial  influence  of  international  favours 
f  given  and  received,  plainly  dictate." 

Mr.  Ashmun's  health,  which  had  been  improving  for  some 
time,  was  now  injured  by  excessive  exertion;  and  on  the  16th 
of  December,  he  relapsed  into  a  slow,  but  constant  fever,  that 
resisted  the  power  of  all  ordinary  remedies,  and  left  him  no 
hope  of  recovery.  "From  despair  on  the  one  hand,  and  a 
<  sense  of  duty  on  the  other,"  he  received  from  the  hand  of  a 
Frenchman,  professing  some  medical  knowledge,  (and  who 
providentially  arrived  on  a  transient  visit  at  this  crisis)  a  po- 
tion, one  of  the  ingredients  of  which  was  a  large  spoonful  of 
calomel.  A  distressing  salivation  ensued,  and  the  fever  left 
him. 

In  the  mean  time  important  services  were  rendered  by  the 
officers  and  crew  of  a  Columbian  armed  schooner,  which 
anchored  on  the  8th  of  December,  and  remained  four  weeks 
at  the  Colony.  Her  mechanics  contributed  to  place  the  set- 
tlement in  a  better  state  of  defence,  and  the  wounded  derived 
sensible  relief  from  the  land  attentions  of  her  skilful  Surgeon. 

It  was  the  middle  of  February  before  the  Agent  was  able  to 
resume  the  active  duties  of  his  station.  He  saw  that  every 
possible  exertion  was  required  to  prepare  for  the  approaching 
season  of  rains.  With  the  exception  of  the  store-house,  there 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  |\U  [M 

was  but  one  shingled  roof  and  frame  house  in  th^^jgliJSiij^ 
Many  of  the  cabins  were  without  floors,  covered 
affording  but  an  imperfect  shelter.   The  war  had  for  months, 
occupied  wholly  the  attention  of  the  Colonists,  and  deranged 
all  their  habits  of  industry  and  private  affairs. 

"We  long,"  said  Mr.  Ashmun  at  this  time  in  a  letter  to  the 
Board,  "for  an  arrival  from  home.  Our  provisions  are  short; 

*  but  we  have  some  tobacco,  and  the  country  abounds  in  cat- 
1  tie,  goats,  fowls,  and  vegetables,  which  tobacco  will  always 

*  buy  in  almost  any  quantities.     Our  last  barrel  of  salted  pro- 
'  visions  is  to  be  opened  next  Saturday.     But  we  do  not 
(  complain.     God  has  not,  and  will  not  fail  to  be  our  provi- 

*  der.     I  have  only  to  regret,  that  the  war  has  put  back  our 
1  improvements  nearly  or  quite  a  whole  year.     But  I  firmly 
'  believe  the  work  of  fighting  is  over,  and  that  future  emi- 
'  grants  will  enjoy  without  molestation,  all  the  fruits  of  their 
1  industry."     To  the  Secretary  of  the  Society,  on  the  20th  of 
February  he  wrote: — "Divine  Providence  has  since  my  last, 
'  been  gradually  dispersing  the  clouds  which  then  overhung 
1  us.    We  have  opened  a  trade  with  a  wealthy  tribe  in  the 
1  interior  for  bullocks.     They  cost  fifteen  bars*  each.     Our 
1  people  begin  to  breathe  freely.     We  still  keep  up  a  strict 
'  watch  at  night,  but  are  able  with  safety  to  reduce  it,  so  as 
c  to  make  it  very  little  burdensome  to  the  Colonists.     Our 
1  wounded,  though  unable  to  labour,  are  once  more  moving 
1  about  with  their  slings  and  crutches,  and  we  have  just  be- 
c  gun  to  build  and  repair  the  houses  in  which  ourselves  and 
1  (if  any  arrive)  the  fresh  emigrants  are  to  spend  the  rains. 

c  Finally,  the  progress  of  the  Colony  is  now  forwards,  and 
'  not  as  it  has  been  for  months  past,  retrograde. 

"My  health  is  nearly  restored.  I  stand  a  monument  of 
c  God's  mercy,  and  behold  the  graves  of  fifteen  white  persons 
'  around  me;  all  of  whom  have  died  since  I  landed  on  the 

*  About  eight  dollars. 


154  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

1  Cape.  Help  me  to  praise  the  Lord;  and  pray — fervently 
1  pray,  that  I  may  spend  a  life  thus  astonishingly  preserved, 
{ in  some  humble  way  of  usefulness,  to  His  blessed  cause  in 
<  Africa  and  the  world." 

On  the  5th  of  March  he  wrote: — "We  have  all  our  cap- 
1  tives  back  again.  The  Kings  met  and  agreed  to  send  them 
'  without  any  demand.  It  was,  however,  expected  we  would 
{  make  them  a  present.  This  I  did.  The  little  things  were 
{  all  much  uncivilized.  Some  had  forgottejh.  the  English  Ian- 
'  guage.  Some  had  forgotten  their  own  parents  !  Others 
1  had  actually  gone  wild.  And  to  avoid  their  friends,  scud 
'  like  fawns  into  the  bushes. 

"By  a  British  vessel,  we  have  the  pleasing  information  that 
1  the  American  ship  of  war,  Cyane,  is  at  Sierra  Leone.  She 
1  will  touch  here  on  her  cruise,  and  I  hope  bring  despatches; 
1  not  a  letter  having  been  received  in  the  Colony  from  Ame- 
'  rica,  since  my  arrival. 

"I  have  said  in  several  letters,  that  I  thought  myself  re- 
1  covering.  But  I  am  now  convinced,  that  in  this  climate,  it 
1  is  vain  to  expect  to  recover  the  health  I  enjoyed  in  Ameri- 
*  ca:  certainly  impossible  for  me,  in  my  present  situation,  to 
1  be  any  thing  else  but  a  sick  man. ' 

"It  is  not  my  nature  \o  complain  with  too  much  facility. — 
1  But  think  you  see  a  young  man  formed  for  society,  sepa- 
1  rated  almost  entirely  from  the  civilized  and  Christian  world; 
1  his  constitution  broke  with  a  fever  of.  six  months;  his  only 
'  earthly  comforter  snatched  away;  mingling  for  months  to- 
1  gether  his  own  groans  and  sighs  with  those  of  the  sick, 
'  wounded,  and  dying;  almost  for  weeks  together  pained  with 
c  the  sight  of  the  corpses  of  the  whites  who  had  undertaken 
'  to  reside  here  for  our  protection;  the  complaints  of  the  Co- 
1  lonists,  a  statement  of  their  wants,  their  application  for  a 
1  thousand  things  with  which  it  is  impossible  to  supply  them, 
1  constantly  presenting  themselves;  every  public  work  to  be 
'  planned  and  superintended;  the  movements  of  the  natives 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  155 

*  to  be  closely  watched,  and  their  hostile  designs  to  be  provid- 

*  ed  against;   provision  made  by  trade,  &c.  &c.  for  the  sub- 
'  sistence  of  the  people;   for  their  shelter  against  the  ap- 

<  proaching  rains;  and  a  ceaseless  anxiety  to  lay  the  founda- 
4  tion  of  the  Colony  in  a  way  that  will  not  be  detrimental  to 
( its  future  prosperity;   the  books  to  be  kept  (and  they  are 
(  not  kept  as  they  should  be)  and  correspondence  carried  on; 

*  think,  my  Dear  Sir,  of  all  this  falling  upon  an  individual, 
(  and  say,  can  he  recover  his  wonted  health  of  body  or  strength 
1  of  mind  ?    I  might  go  on  enumerating  other  causes  of  my 

*  feeble  and  crazy  state  of  health,  but  it  is  painful  to  have  said 
f  what  I  have.     I  have  done  it,  in  the  hope  of  showing  that 

<  no  one,  and  hardly  two  Agents  can  do  the  duties  required 

*  here,  or  attempt  it  without  betraying  the  interests  of  the 

*  cause,  or  sacrificing  himself."* 

An  account  of  the  suffering  state  of  the  settlement,  from 
the  pen  of  Mr.  Ashmun,  in  the  Sierra  Leone  Gazette,  with  in- 
formation derived  from  other  sources,  induced  the  command- 
er of  the  Cyane,  Captain  Robert  Trail  Spence,  though  his 
health  was  impaired,  and  his  crew  enfeebled  by  a  cruise  of 
twelve  months  in  the  West  Indies,  to  adopt  efficient  measures 
for  the  relief  and  safety  of  the  Colony.  He  saw  the  impor- 
tance of  leaving  an  armed  vessel  on  the  coast,  and  by  the 
most  energetic  exertion,  the  hulk  of  the  old  schooner  Augus- 
ta, which  had  been  abandoned  by  former  Agents  of  the  U. 
States'  Government  at  Sierra  Leone,  was  drawn  from  the 
mud,  fitted  for  sea,  and  bearing  six  guns,  with  a  crew  of 
twelve  men,  placed  under  command  of  Lieutenant  Dashiell, 
to  guard  the  coast,  and  render  to  the  Colony  every  pSbsible 
aid,  in  any  exigency.  Captain  Spence  deemed  it  a  solemn 
duty  to  ensure,  if  possible,  the  safety  of  the  establishment, 

*  This  letter  was  dated  "Christopolis,"  &c.  Mr.  Ashmun  inquires  near 
the  close— "Have  the  Board  fixed  a  name  for  the  Town  ?  I  am  not  satisfied 
with  Christopolis,  and  seldom  use  it.  I  wait  the  instructions  of  the  Board  on 
this  subject," 


156 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


and  having  incurred  a  heavy  pecuniary  responsibility  in  the 
purchase  therefor,  of  lumber,  stores,  and  ammunition  at  Si- 
erra Leone,  directed,  on  his  arrival,  a  large  portion  of  his 
crew  to  assist,  for  twenty  days,  the  settlers  and  native  labour- 
ers, in  the  construction  of  a  commodious  house  for  the  Agent, 
and  a  stone  fortress  which  he  trusted  (to  use  his  own  expres- 
sion) might  prove  a  "tower  of  strength.''  In  the  midst  of  his 
benevolent  exertions,  he  saw  the  Surgeon  of  his  ship,  Dr. 
Dix,  seized  with  the  fever,  and  after  a  short  illness  expire — 
a  victim  to  his  generous  zeal,  for  the  welfare  of  the  Colony. 
This  lamented  man,  had  watched  with  interest  the  progress 
of  the  Colony  from  its  earliest  existence, — had  visited  and 
administered  relief  to  the  emigrants  when  at  Sherbro;  "and 
the  tears  of  a  grateful  people,"  said  Mr.  Ashmun,  "fell  into 
his  grave,  which  they  covered  with  their  own  hands  over 
his  ashes." 

The  rapid  progress  of  disease  among  the  seamen  on  shore, 
compelled  Captain  Spence  to  leave  incomplete  the  works  he 
had  commenced;  nor  could  his  earnest  and  sympathizing  en- 
deavours prevent,  soon  after  his  departure,  the  loss  of  nearly 
forty  of  his  brave  men. 

The  important  works  undertaken,  and  greatly  advanced 
during  the  visit  of  the  Cyane,  were  planned  and  superin- 
tended by  Mr.  Ashmun;  and  the  correspondence  between 
him  and  the  commander  of  that  vessel,  inserted  in  the  Ap- 
pendix to  the  Seventh  Report  of  the  Colonization  Society, 
bears  testimony  alike  to  the  depth  and  soundness  of  his  judg- 
ment, and  to  the  liberality  and  disinterestedness  of  that  intel- 
ligenflbfflcer.  Mr.  Richard  Seaton,  the  first  Clerk  of  the  Cy- 
ane, consented,  with  the  approbation  of  Captain  Spence,  tore- 
main  as  assistant  to  Mr.  Ashmun,  who  saw,  that  alone  and 
with  health  impaired,  it  was  impossible  to  fulfil  the  numerous 
and  arduous  duties  of  the  Agency. 

On  the  21st  of  April,  Mr.  Ashmun,  "worn  down  with  cares 
and  fatigue,"  having  organized  the  labouring  force,  and  ob- 


LIFE    OF    ASHMCJN.  157 

« 

tained  the  consent  of  Mr.  Seaton  to  superintend  the  public 
works,  sailed  in  the  Augusta  for  Settra  Kroo,  two  hundred 
miles  South-eastward,  for  the  purpose  of  conveying  thither 
forty  Kroomen,  (who  had  given  three  weeks'  labour  for  their 
passage)  and  conciliating  the  regards  of  the  native  Chiefs  of 
the  country.  During  his  absence  of  twenty-one  days,  noth- 
ing escaped  his  observation;  he  examined  the  features  of  the 
coast,  visited  and  ascertained  the  dispositions  of  several  tribes, 
and  having  engaged  twenty-five  Kroomen  as  labourers,  and 
made  some  purchases  of  valuable  articles  from  the  natives 
and  the  English  factory  at  Sesters,  he  returned  to  the  Cape 
on  the  13th  of  May. 

"One  century  ago,"  he  remarks,*  "a  great  part  of  this  line 
1  of  coast  was  populous,  cleared  of  trees,  and  under  cultiva- 
1  tion.  It  is  now  covered  with  a  dense,  and  almost  continu- 
c  ous  forest.  This  is  almost  wholly  a  second  growth — com- 
'  monly  distinguished  from  the  original  by  the  profusion  of 
£  brambles  and  brushwood,  which  abounds  amongst  the  larger 
1  trees,  and  renders  the  woods  entirely  impervious,  even  to 
'  the  natives,  until  paths  are  opened  by  the  bill-hook. 

"The  native  towns  are  numerous,  but  not  large.  The  peo- 
1  pie  raise  their  own  rice,  cassada,  and  palm  oil;  and  procure 

<  their  guns,  powder,  clothes,  tobacco,  knives,  cooking  uten- 
'  sils,  and  luxuries  from  French  slave  traders.     We  saw  at 
1  least  three  vessels  of  this  description. 

"Every  tribe  visited  on  this  trip,  declared  by  its  Prince  or 

*  head  man,  its  intention  to  preserve  with  us  a  good  under- 

*  standing,  and  to  trade  freely  to  the  Colony.     The  particu- 
1  lars  of  our  late  war,  especially  the  result  of  the  two  engage- 
c  ments,  have  been  reported  far  and  near,  and  given  to  the 
c  Colony  a  character  for  strength  and  invincibility,  which 
'  must  in  different  ways  contribute  greatly  to  its  advan- 

<  tage." 

*  Appendix  to  the  Seventh  Report  of  the  Colonization  Society. 


158  LIFE   OP  AStiMtTN. 

• 

On  the  return  of  the  Agent,  the  Colonists  were  found  to 
have  continued  their  labours,  under  the  direction  of  one  of 
their  own  number;  while  Mr.  Seaton  had  experienced  a  se- 
vere attack  of  the  fever  of  the  climate. 

Aware  of  the  dangers  of  the  settlement,  the  Managers  had 
early  in  the  preceding  winter,  determined  to  despatch  a  rein- 
forcement of  emigrants  with  stores,  under  the  direction  of 
Dr.  Ayres,  whose  improved  health  now  permitted-  him  to  re- 
sume his  duties  as  principal  Agent  and  Physician  in  the  Co- 
lony. This  gentleman  embarked  at  Baltimore  with  sixty-one 
coloured  passengers,  on  the  16th  of  April,  and  arrived  at  Cape 
Montserado  on  the  24th  of  May.  Such  an  accession  to  the 
numbers  and  resources  of  the  Colony,  could  not  fail  to  con- 
firm the  hopes  and  resolution  of  the  earlier  settlers  who  had 
so  long  borne  up  against  want,  and  malevolence,  and  misfor- 
tune. 

The  amiable  Seaton  having^anguished  nearly  two  months, 
resolved  as  the  only  means  of  prolonging  life,  to  return  in  the 
Oswego  to  the  United  States.  "The  bloom  of  youth,"  says 
Mr.  Ashmun,  "had  just  ripened  into  the  graces  of  manhood, 
1  and  given  to  a  person  naturally  prepossessing,  the  higher  or- 

*  nament  of  a  benevolent  and  highly  accomplished  under- 
1  standing.    He  perceived  his  services  were  needed  by  a  Co- 

*  lony  which  had  interested  his  heart;   and  he  gave  them. — 
'  Becoming  the  voluntary  companion  and  assistant  of  the  so- 
1  litary  Agent,  he  saw  the  Cyane  sail  from  the  coast  with 

<  composure,  on  the  21st  of  April.    His  conciliating  manners, 
'  aided  by  a  judicious  procedure,  deepened  in  the  hearts  of 
1  the  Colonists,  the  impression  first  made  by  his  disinterested- v 

<  ness.    Seldom  has  the  longest  friendship  power  to  cement 

*  a  more  cordial  union,  than  had  begun  to  rivet  to  this  gene- 

*  rous  stranger  the  hear4of  the  writer;  when  in  the  first  week 
{  of  May  he  was  assailed  by  the  alarming  symptoms  of  fever. 
1  The  fatal  issue  of  the  attack  has  been  already  anticipated 

<  by  the  reader.    He  had  long  maintained  the  doubtful  strug- 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  159 

• 

1  gle — when  on  the  -  -  of  June,  five  days  after  embarking 
4  in  the  Oswcgo,  he  resigned  his  spirit  to  God  who  gave  it." 

Notwithstanding  his  many  pressing  engagements,  and  the 
illness  which  had  so  severely  afflicted  him  nearly  up  to  this 
time,  Mr.  Ashmun  had  neglected  no  opportunity  of  transmit- 
ting to  the  Managers  of  the  Colonization  Society,  an  account 
of  his  proceedings,  with  all  such  facts  and  statements,  as  he 
thought  might  aid  their  deliberations,  and  light  the  way  to 
measures  best  suited  to  promote  the  permanent  welfare  of  the 
Colony. 

He  was  earnest  in  his  requests,  that  education,  not  only  in 
letters  and  science,  but  in  morals  and  religion,  should  be  es- 
teemed of  vital  importance. 

In  a  letter  forwarded  by  the  Cyane,  after  enumerating  sun- 
dry improvements  which  he  designed  to  make,  he  observes — 
"Our  little  school  is  kept  in  operation,  but  it  is  a  feeble  aifair. 
£  Our  poor  liberated  captives  work  hard  and  cheerfully,  but 
'  receive  little  instruction.  My  heart  often  bleeds  for  them 
'  and  others  in  similar  circumstances.  When  can  you  send 
'  out  an  accomplished  and  pious  schoolmaster  ?  Permit  me 
'  to  say  a  word  about  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel.  We  are 
*  starving  for  want  of  the  able,  regular  administration  of  the 
'  word  and  ordinances.  Does  not  even  the  Colony  deserve 
1  the  attention  of  some  Missionary  Society  ?  Let  it  be  con- 
'  sidered  that  a  zealous  Minister,  Catechists,  &c.  residing  in 
1  the  town,  may  bestow  any  part  of  their  time  and  labours  on 
'  the  heathen.  They  may  open  schools  on  the  opposite  side 
'  of  the  river,  which  will  immediately  be  partially  filled  with 
1  heathen  youth  and  children.  They  may  form  in  town  a 
1  Missionary  family.  The  people  of  this  part  of  the  coast  have 
1  no  inveterate  anti-religious  prejudices  to  prevent  their 
1  attending  every  Sabbath  or  oftener,  to  hear  the  Divine  word. 
1  Very  good  interpreters  can  be  procured  for  a  trifling  com- 
c  pensation.  I  am  certain  that  an  able  Minister  of  the  Gos- 
•  pel,  clothed  with  all  the  authority  and  prerogatives  of  a 


160  LIFE   OF   ASHMUN. 

'  commissioned  ambassador  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  is  the  man 
1  now  wanting.     Let  Catechists  attend  him." 

"I  wish,"  continues  Mr.  Ashmun,  "to  afford  the  Board  a 
'  full  view  of  our  situation,  and  of  the  African  character.  The 
'  following  INCIDENT,  I  relate  not  for  its  singularity,  for  simi- 
c  lar  events  take  place,  perhaps,  every  month  in  the  year;  but 
'  it  has  fallen  under  my  own  observation,  and  I  can  vouch 
'  for  its  authenticity: — King  Boatswain,  our  most  powerful 
<  supporter  and  steady  friend  among  the  natives,  (so  he  has 
1  uniformly  shown  himself)  received  a  quantity  of  goods  in 
'  trade  from  a  French  slaver,  for  which  he  stipulated  to  pay 
1  young  slaves.  He  makes  it  a  point  of  honour  to  be  punctual 
1  to  his  engagements.  The  time  was  at  hand  when  he  ex- 
'  pected  the  return  of  the  slaver.  He  had  not  the  slaves. — 
1  Looking  round  on  the  peaceable  tribes  about  him,  for  her 
'  victims,  he  singled  out  the  Gtueahs,  a  small  agricultural  and 
< trading  people,  of  most  inoffensive  character.  His  warriors 
{  were  skilfully  distributed  to  the  different  hamlets,  and 
'  making  a  simultaneous  assault  on  the  sleeping  occupants,  in 
(  the  dead  of  night,  accomplished,  without  difficulty  or  re- 
1  sistance,  the  annihilation  (with  the  exception  of  a  few  towns) 
(  of  the  whole  tribe.  Every  adult  man  and  woman  was  mur- 
£  dered;  every  hut  fired;  very  young  children  generally 
1  shared  the  fate  of  their  parents.  The  boys  and  girls  alone 
'  were  reserved  to  pay  the  Frenchman." 

He  thus  concludes  this  letter: — "God  Almighty  has  surely 
1  given  us  His  powerful  aid  and  effectual  blessing.  I  pros- 
1  trate  myself  before  His  holy  Throne,  and  humbly  acknow- 
1  ledge  His  own  right  hand  made  visible  for  our  temporal  sal- 
1  vation.  That  He  would  send  down  upon  us  spiritual  bless- 
'  ings  in  great  abundance,  arid  on  all  to  whom  the  Colony 
1  looks  up  in  America  for  support  and  direction,  is  my  earnest 
'  prayer." 

It  has  been  stated  already,  that  from  the  first,  Mr.  Ashmun 
proposed,  as  one  great  object  of  his  voyage,  to  ascertain  the 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  .      161 

resources,  and  make  particular  observations  on  the  trade  of 
Africa;  and  to  establish  under  the  sanction  and  auspices  of 
the  Colonization  Society,  regular  commercial  intercourse  be- 
tween that  country  and  the  United  States. 

His  letters  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Society,  from  the  Capes 
of  Virginia,  and  from  Fayal,  contain  some  of  his  thoughts  on 
the  subject.  In  September,  soon  after  his  arrival  in  Africa, 
his  opinions  and  plans  were  more  fully  developed.  He  in- 
formed the  Board  of  Managers,  that  he  had  not  over  estimated 
the  value  of  the  trade;  that  the  Territory  owned  by  the  So- 
ciety, abounded  with  camwood,  which  in  some  places  ex- 
tended down  to  the  coast,  and  formed  one-third  part  of  the 
forest  trees;  that  although  it  cost  labour  to  obtain  it,  and  the 
natives  were  indolent,  still  an  Agent  with  suitable  goods,  time 
at  command,  and  constantly  residing  at  the  settlement,  might 
probably  collect  from  two  to  three  hundred  tons  every  three 
months;  that  four  cargoes  might  be  sent  home  in  a  year,*  the 
profits  on  which,  would  pay  the  expense  of  the  ships  employ- 
ed; that  with  no  leisure  for  any  thing  of  the  kind,  he  had  done 
something  to  revive  the  trade;  and  finally,  that  if  relieved 
from  the  direction  of  the  Colony,  and  appointed  (should  Dr. 
Ayres  decline)  Agent  of  the  United  States'  Government  for 
the  recaptured  Africans,  he  would  be  able,  without  taking 
from  the  time  occupied  in  duties  to  his  charge,  to  conduct  a 
trade  of  considerable  extent,  tending  to  civilize  the  natives, 
and  of  much  advantage  to  the  Society. 

On  his  way  to  Africa,  at  Fayal,  he  had  judged  it  necessary 
to  purchase  a  small  quantity  of  supplies,  and  give  in  payment 
drafts  on  the  United  States'  Government  and  the  Society. — 
Observing  on  his  arrival  the  destitution  of  the  Colony,  he 
obtained  of  the  owners  of  the  Strong,  goods  to  the  amount  of 
fourteen  hundred  dollars,  for  which  was  taken  in  payment,  an 
order  on  the  Society,  payable  at  the  end  of  six  months.  In 

\ 

*  This  opinion  we  believe  to  have  been  erroneous . 
21 


162  LIFE    OF   ASHMUN. 

his  letter  of  advice,  he  suggested  that  the  Society  could  either 
pay  for  these  goods,  and  thus  realize  all  the  profits  to  be  de- 
rived from  them,  or  should  he  be  appointed  Agent  for  the  re- 
captured Africans,  and  receive  (as  other  Agents  had  done)  a 
years'  salary  in  advance — the  whole  or  such  portion  as  the 
Society  should  choose,  might  be  applied  in  payment.  He  did 
not,  however,  conceal  his  desire,  that  the  obligation  should  be 
assumed  by  the  Society,  and  that  his  salary  (should  there  be 
one)  might  go  to  the  extinction  of  his  debts  in  the  U.  States. 

Unfortunately  he  stood  not  now  in  the  clear  light  of  public 
confidence.  The  malign  eye  of  suspicion  was  upon  him. — 
The  Managers  of  the  Society  participated  in  the  general  dis- 
trust. He  had  left  the  country  without  offering  apology  or 
explanation  to  those  who  were  dissatisfied  with  his  manage- 
ment of  the  Repertory;  feeling  no  obligation  to  unveil  his  pri- 
vate affairs,  and  cherishing  too  much  respect  for  his  own  in- 
tegrity, to  volunteer  in  its  defence.  Suspicions  which  were 
at  first,  from  misapprehension  indulged  against  him,  borrowed 
shape  and  distinctness  from  the  imagination — grew  by  time, 
and  at  length}  gained  with  many,  the  weight  of  certainty  and 
truth. 

On  the  24th  of  May,  Dr.  Ayres  had  returned  to  the  Colony 
as  principal  Agent,  both  of  the  Government  and  Society. — 
By  despatches  that  came  with  him,  Mr.  Ashmun  had  the  mor- 
tification to  learn,  that  his  drafts,  both  on  the  Government 
and  Society,  had  been  dishonoured;  that  neither  had  made 
any  appropriation  for  his  benefit;  that  he  had  been  appointed 
to  no  Agency  by  the  Government;  that  the  Society  had  in- 
vested him  with  no  authority;  but  while  it  gratefully  acknow- 
ledged his  services,  and  engaged  liberally  to  reward  them, 
had  left  the  amount  of  his  compensation,  for  the  past,  unde- 
termined; and  for  the  future,  a  matter  for  negotiation  with 
the  principal  Agent. 

The  Roman  satirist,  amid  his  kindling  conceptions  of  an 
extended  civil  war,  seemed  to  see  the  whole  earth  subdued, 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  163 

except  the  inflexible  soul  of  Cato.*  A  noble  tribute  this,  to 
firmness,  that  grew  firmer  when  the  storm  raged,  and  the 
waves  dashed  higher  and  heaving  against  it.  The  stoic 
philosophy  might  have  taught  Ashmun,  that  reason  is  the 
proper  remedy  for  grief;  that  the  combat  with  the  dark  aspect 
and  reverses  of  fortune  is  great — the  achievement  divine; 
for  empire,  for  freedom,  for  prosperity,  for  tranquillity;!  but 
he  had  been  educated  in  the  school  of  Christ,  and  relied 
mainly  for  triumph  upon  the  Revelation  and  Providence  of 
God.  He  knew  that  events  were  ordered  by  Almighty  Wis- 
dom and  Goodness;  that  silence  became  a  sinner  under  the 
correction  of  Heaven;  that  He  who  had  set  him  in  darkness, 
could  bring  him  forth  to  honour;  that  fruit,  sweet  and  health- 
ful, might  be  plucked  from  adversity;  and  that  a  meek  and 
resolute  acquiescence  in  the  Divine  Will,  was  the  best  remedy 
for  present  evil — the  sure  preparative  and  pledge  of  future 
and  eternal  good.  He  remembered  God.  He  listened  to  that 
voice  which  often  speaks,  though  man  perceiveth  it  not.  He 
considered  how  the  Divine  Mercy  had  shone  upon  his  af- 
flictions; how  his  pride  had  been  humbled  and  his  heart 
loosened  from  the  world;  how  his  soul  had  been  kept  back 
from  the  pit,  and  his  life  from  perishing  by  the  sword;  and 
cheered  by  these  tokens  of  Providence,  he  cried  unto  God 
his  strength,  and  took  refuge  under  the  shadow  of  the  Al- 
mighty. 

It  appears  to  have  been  early  a  haoit  with  Mr.  Ashmun,  to 
be  so  constantly  occupied  with  his  own  duties,  as  to  have 
little  time  or  inclination,  to  intermeddle  with  the  appropriate 
duties  of  others.  He  knew  that  officious  advice  is  seldom 


*  Audire  magnos  jam  videor  duces, 
Non  indecoro  pulvere  sordidos, 
Et  cuncta  terrarum  subacta 
Preter  atrocem  animum  Catonis. 

HOR.  II  B.  1st  Ode. 
t  Epictetus,  Book  II,  Chap.  18, 


164  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

followed,  and  that  faults  are  often  aggravated  by  censure.  As 
for  reputation,  he  was  convinced,  that  no  man  ever  acquired 
it,  by  declaring  that  it  was  his  by  desert,  or  won  it  by  entrea- 
ty; that  it  was  a  light  emanating  from  great  and  virtuous 
actions,  which  envy  might  dim  for  a  time,  or  ignorance  dark- 
en, but  which  the  hand  of  Truth  never  failed,  finally,  to 
hold  up  pure  and  unclouded,  to  the  admiration  of  the  world. 

By  the  return  of  the  Oswego,  he  informed  the  Board,  "that 
{  by  ordinary  success  in  trade  on  the  coast,  he  could  realize 
1  at  least  four  times  the  sum  he  should  ever  ask  or  expect, 
'  either  of  the  Government  or  Society;  that  it  was  his  wish, 
'  however,  (unless  compelled  to  resort  to  some  other  employ- 
<  ment)  to  lend  his  services  to  the  cause  of  the  Society,  as 
* long  as  they  should  be  required;  that  he  felt  unworthy  of 
( the  vote  of  thanks  passed  by  the  Board,  for  endeavouring  to 
(  perform,  as  well  as  he  could,  the  arduous  and  perilous  du- 
{ ties  connected  with  the  defence  of  the  Colony;  and  that  to 
1  know  that  any  part  of  his  conduct  merited  the  approbation 
1  of  the  Board,  was  among  the  most  powerful  motives  for 
1  endeavouring,  in  future,  to  deserve  it."* 

Under  date  of  the  21st  of  July,  having  acknowledged  the 
receipt  of  the  letter  by  which  he  had  been  referred  to  Dr. 
Ayres  for  a  settlement  of  the  specific  conditions  on  which  his 
services  should  in  future  be  rendered,  he  observes:  "I  have 
'  freely  stated  to  him,  that  whatever  might  be  a  paramount 
1  motive  with  me  for  consenting  to  stay  in  Africa,  my  most 
1  decided  convictions  of  duty,  forbade  me,  under  present  cir- 
1  cumstances,  to  indulge  the  thought,  without  a  definite  and 


*  A  small  present  of  clothing  had  been  sent  to  him  by  the  Oswego,  in  allu- 
sion to  which  he  observes:  "The  valuable  present  of  clothing  which  I  have 
received,  has  proved  doubly  so  from  the  seasonableness  of  its  arrival.  But 
I  need  not  say  that  it  deserves,  in  my  estimation,  a  much  higher  value  from 
the  occasion  of  the  donation,  and  the  enlightened  source  from  which  it  pro- 
ceeded. The  grateful  sentiment  it  has  inspired,  will  long  survive  the  period 
when  the  articles  themselves  shall  have  ceased  to  be  of  any  value.'* 


UFE   OP   ASHMUN.  165 

e  certain  pecuniary  remuneration.    The  amount  of  salary  I 

*  have,  likewise,  fixed  at  twelve  hundred  and  "fifty  dollars 

*  per  annum,  besides  my  subsistence  and  a  passage  home  to 

*  the  United  States,  should  I  live  until  it  might  be  proper  to 
f  return. 

"Less  than  the  above  might  have  been  asked  with,  perhaps, 

<  a  show  of  disinterestedness.     But  it  would  have  been  mere- 

<  ly  a  show — an  ostentation  of  liberality,  resulting,  as  it  cer- 

*  tainly  must,  in  a  disregard  and  sacrifice  of  the  claims  of 

*  justice.     More,  out  of  a  regard  to  the  present  state  of  the 
{  Society's  finances,  and  from  the  expectation  that  the  salary 
1  shall  be  certain,  I  was  willing  not  to  ask." 

After  stating  that  there  were  conclusive  objections  against 
accepting  any  privilege  of  trade  in  lieu  of  a  portion  of  this  sa- 
lary, he  adds:  "The  payment  of  it  in  America  as  it  falls  due 

*  — say  of  a  sum  not  to  exceed  one  half,  to  drafts  made  in  the 
t  course  of  the  year,  and  the  balance  at  the  year's  end,  it  is 
c  judged,  will  be  considered  by  the  Board,  as  not  only  the 
4  simplest,  but  the  most  economical  mode  of  compensating 
c  either  their  present,  or  any  other  Agents,  either  in  Ameri- 
1  ca  or  Africa.    A  stipulation  to  this  effect,  leaves  the  mind  at 
1  rest  on  a  subject  to  which  it  must,  otherwise,  very  often,  and 
{  probably  with  anxiety,  recur.     The  Board  have  then  the 

<  right  to  expect,  and  to  claim  the  unremitting  and  undivided 

*  services  of  their  Agents,  and  will  find  it  comparatively  easy 
1  to  proceed,  with  the  most  unhesitating  decision,  in  instruct- 

*  ing,  appointing,  or  removing  them. 

"I  await  the  Board's  ratification  or  rejection  of  the  forego- 

*  ing  arrangement,  which  I  hope  they  will  find  it  convenient 

<  to  transmit  by  the  next  Packet.* 

*  In  the  month  of  June,  a  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  Board,  appointing 
him  assistant  Agent;  (without,  however,  fixing  his  compensation)  but  as  no- 
tice thereof,  did  not  probably  reach  him  until  late  in  the  autumn,  soon  after 
which,  all  the  concerns  of  the  Colony  (in  consequence  of  the  return  of  Dr. 
Ayres)  again  devolved  upon  him,  if  for  no  other  reason,  he  appears  not  to  have 
adverted  to  the  fact  in  any  of  his  letters. 


166  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN, 

"For  compensation  to  the  24th  of  May,  1823,  I  shall,  for 


c  the  present,  look  solely  to  the  Government." 

He  gave  the  Board,  by  the  same  conveyance,  an  account 
of  the  state  and  prospects  of  the  Colony.  "I  have  determin- 
'  ed,"  he  remarks,  "to  let  no  opportunity  pass  without  humbly, 
1  but  earnestly,  representing  to  the  Board,  and  every  influen- 
£  tial  correspondent  I  have  in  America,  the  spiritual  and  mo- 
'  ral  necessities  of  your  Colonists.  A  Missionary  and  two 
1  Schoolmasters,  with  a  female  Teacher,  are  needed  beyond 
'  measure. 

"Our  last  accounts  from  America,  filled  us  with  hope  in 
c  relation  to  the  future  prospects  of  the  Society  at  home. — 
1  There  were  evident  symptoms  of  a  disposition  in  the  Ame- 
1  rican  public  to  look  earnestly  at  the  subject.  They  will,  I 
c  believe,  come  on  as  fast,  perhaps,  as  the  good  of  the  Colony 
:  shall  require.  It  is  not  desirable  at  present,  that  more  than 
1  three  or  four  shipments  of  sixty  persons  each,  be  made  in 
£  the  year.  But  the  proportion  may  increase,  and  that  very 
c  largely,  every  year.  Let  one  hundred  families  be  well  set- 
£  tied  with  a  good  house  and  perfectly  improved  lot  to  each, 
1  in  town — and  a  plantation  without,  well  cultivated;  let  a 
1  Hospital,  Ware-house,  and  temporary  Receptacles  for  new 
1  comers  be  prepared — and  the  wheels  of  the  machine — its 
1  schools,  courts,  &c.  get  a  good  momentum  on  them,  in  a 
*  proper  direction,  and  Sir,  you  may  throw  in  new  settlers 
c  as  fast  as  your  funds  will  probably  admit." 

To  a  friend,  about  the  same  time,  he  wrote:  "After  discou- 
1  raging  delays,  and  severe  trials,  the  Colony  now  appears  to 
'  be  established  on  a  much  more  solid  footing  than  it  could 
'  have  been  without  them.  I  speak  of  the  effects  of  our  afflic- 
c  tions,  as  they  relate  to  the  establishment  here,  without 
<  knowing  how  they  have  affected  the  public  mind  and  the 
1  interests  of  the  cause,  at  home;  but  hope  and  believe  they 
4  will  be  overruled  to  advance  it  even  there.  The  delays  and 
1  dangers  encountered  in  acquiring  the  secure  possession  of 
1  a  Territory,  will  endear  it,  and  greatly  enhance  its  value,  to 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  167 

1  the  settlers  for  a  long  time  to  come.  They  have,  even  the 
1  most  worldly,  been  driven  by  the  extremity  of  their  circum- 
1  stances,  to  supplication  and  prayer.  The  truly  pious  among 
4  us  have  thus  contracted  the  habit  of  regarding,  and  acknow- 
1  ledging  the  hand  of  God  in  all  their  ways;  and  of  trusting 
'  His  gracious  promises  more  implicitly,  both  for  soul  and  bo- 
1  dy,  for  this  world  and  the  next.  Indeed,  I  think  I  can  say 

<  of  a  goodly  number,  that  their  chastisements  have  increased 
c  in  them,  visibly,  'the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness.'    I 
1  beg  your  prayers  that  such  may  prove  their  blessed  eifect 
'  on  your  unworthy  Brother  and  Servant  in  the  profession  of 
1  the  Gospel. 

"We  are  now  one  hundred  and  fifty  strong,  all  in  health, 
c  (I  speak  of  the  Colonists)  have  about  fifty  houses,  including 
1  three  store  houses,  and  a  heavy  substantial  stone  tower, 
f  fourteen  feet  high,  mounting  six  pieces  of  ordnance.  We 
t  have  a  good  framed  house  surrounded  with  a  piazza.  Dr. 
6  Ayres  has  brought  out  the  frame  of  another  of  equal  dimen- 
1  sions.  Harmony  and  a  good  degree  of  industry,  at  present 
t  prevail.  Thus  you  see,  that  we  are  prepared  to  go  on  and 

<  fulfil  the  anxious  wishes  of  the  friends  of  the  cause,  in  rela- 
1  tion  to  the  cultivation  of  the  lands,  and  the  formation  of  a 
c  regular,  moral,  and  happy  society." 


CHAPTER   IX. 


THE  presence  of  Dr.  Ayres  diminished,  f<m  a  time,  the 
^cares  and  responsibilities*  of  Mr.  Ashmun,  who  considering 
how  uncertain  was  the  time  he  might  remain  in  Africa, 
resolved  to  add  as  much  as  possible  to  his  stock  of  gene- 
ral knowledge,  and  prepare  himself  for  any  change  in  his 
fortunes.  Though  he  perceived  that  the  tide  was  fast 
ebbing  with  him  towards  an  ocean  dark  and  unexplored,  he 
knew  that  "wisdom  is  more  precious  than  rubies,"  and 
whatever  vicissitudes  or  dangers  might  await  him,  of  what- 
ever else  he  might  be  deprived,  he  would  retain  her  in- 
comparable treasure. 

Amid    the    perplexity  and   uncertainty    of  his    affairs, 

*  In  a  letter  to  a  friend,  dated  June  5th,  he  writes:  "I  am  recovered,  ex- 
cept swollen  ankles  and  legs,  and  consequent  weakness  throughout  the  sys- 
tem. But  Dr.  Ayres  by  assuming  a  weight  of  cares  which  has  oppressed  me 
for  months,  will  thus,  as  Agent,  probably  promote  my  perfect  recovery  much 
more  effectually  than  he  could  by  medical  prescription." 

22 


170  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

he  summoned  his  intellectual  powers  to  their  highest  efforts, 
Probably,  during  no  equal  period  of  his  life,  did  he  pursue 
his  studies  with  more  enthusiasm  or  success,  than  from  the 
arrival  of  Dr.  Ayres  in  May,  1823,  to  his  departure  in  Decem- 
ber of  the  same  year.  The  following  rules  for  conduct,  da- 
ted September,  1823,  indicate  the  principles  which  animated; 
and  the  spirit  that  then  sustained  him: 

"  Let  all  thy  ways  be  established." 

"1.  Never  to  be  guilty  of  a  meanness  which  my  most 
c  virtuous  and  spirited  children  (should  I  be  blessed  with  chil- 
f  dren  possessing  these  qualities)  would  blush  to  see  published 
'  to  the  world  as  a  part  of  a  parent's  Biography. 

"2.  Never,  unless  compelled  by  poverty  which  fetters  the 
c  freedom  of  my  own  Agency,  to  accept  of  a  situation,  or  en- 
'  gage  in  an  occupation  contrary  to  the  habits  of  my  educa- 

<  tion,  below  that  rank  in  life  to  which  my  talents  entitle  me, 

*  or  which  experience  or  observation  have  taught  me  would 

<  cramp  the  exercise  of  abilities,  either  natural  or  acquired. 

"3.     To  study  and  avail  myself  of  a  quick  sense  of  pro- 

<  priety,  in  all  matters,  small  or  great,  of  morality,  judgment, 

*  manners,  dress  and  business. 

"4.  To  build  on  my  own  foundation,  and  to  study  none 
'  but  the  most  perfect  examples,  living  or  dead. 

"5.  To  prefer  the  society  of  dead  authors  of  eminence,  to 
1  that  of  living  actors,  of  simple  mediocrity.  < 

"6.  To  regard  the  contracting  of  a  debt,  as  a  mortgage  of 
1  personal  liberty  and  moral  principle.  (John  Basil  worth  II, 
(  of  Russia,  affixed  a  brand  of  infamy  on  such  as  contracted 
1  debts  they  could  not  pay,  and  sent  them  into  banishment.) 

"7.  To  avoid  exposing  myself  to  the  degradation  of  es- 
1  pousing  measures,  which  the  situation  of  a  weaker  or  more 

*  ignorant  man  may  give  him  the  power  to  defeat. 

"8.    Never  to  assert,  without  being  able  to  prove  to  a  can- 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  171 

c  did  and  sensible  man,  my  proposition:  never  to  advise  un- 

*  less  sure  that  the  neglecter  of  my  counsel  will  repent  his 

<  folly. 

"9.    Never  to  talk  without  the  undivided  attention  of  all 

*  to  whom  I  address  my  discourse. 

"10.  Always  to  utter  my  sentiments  with  precision  and 
1  propriety — even  should  it  cost  me  some  previous  reflection; 

*  and  never  begin  an  expression  without  bringing  it  to  a 

*  perfect  close. 

"11.    Let  me  search  after  truth,  and  contract  such  an  af- 

*  fection  for  it  as  to  endure  in  my  mind  no  rival  prejudices, 

*  or  opinions,  on  any  subject  whatever. 

"12.  To  run  the  risk  of  being  candid,  open,  sincere;  and 
1  abandon  utterly  the  friendship  and  confidence  of  any  civi- 
£  lized  man  base  and  depraved  enough  to  attempt  to  gain  an 
1  undue  advantage  of  these  qualities. 

"13.  Never  to  commence  an  enterprise  without  being 
c  well  assured  of  its  utility;  and  having  undertaken,  never  to 
f  abandon  it  unaccomplished. 

"14.  To  do  whatever  I  undertake  in  the  best  possible 
4  manner, — always  allowing  for  the  time  and  means  I  can 

*  employ  on  the  object. 

"15.    To  acquire  a  style  of  writing  and  expression,  of  con- 

*  ception  and  feeling — of  manners  and  deportment,  which 

*  destitute  of  servility,  locality  and  mannerism,  shall  pass 

*  current  among  the  best  ranks  of  people  of  all  professions  and 
1  in  all  countries. 

"16.  To  become  master  of  the  grammatical  construction 
6  and  written  form  of  the  Italian,  (as  the  key  to  all  the  Southern 

<  European)  and  perfectly  familiar  with  the  French,  langua- 
1  ges;  both  as  written  and  spoken. 

"17.    To  make  the  Latin  (written)  a  second  vernacular. 

"18.  To  continue  my  inquiries  and  reflections  on  what- 
'  ever  subject  may  engage  them,  until  either  my  information 
1  is  perfectly  exact,  or  the  means  of  extending  it  exhausted. 


172  LIFE    OF   ASHMUN. 

"19.    To  eat  meat,  fish  or  fowl,  but  at  one  meal  in  twenty- 

*  four  hours,  except  when  fatigue,  sickness,  exhaustion,  or 
1  some  extraordinary  occasion  requires  a  departure  from  the 
1  rule;  and  in  my  meals  to  observe  moderation. 

"20.  To  vitiate  no  one  of  the  appetites  so  far  as  to  render 
'  it  necessary  to  health,  to  mental  vigour,  or  bodily  ease,  to 
'  continue  the  indulgence. 

"21.  To  be  rigorously  exact  in  keeping  my  pecuniary 
'  accounts;  that  I  may  not  appear  mean  in  my  disburse- 
1  ments. 

"22.     To  turn  every  portion  of  my  time  to  good  account. 

"23.     To  despise  all  wit  but  the  pure  attick. 

"24.  To  have  as  little  connexion  as  possible  with  the 
'  conceited,  the  overbearing,  the  pedantic,  the  blustering; 
1  and  finally,  with  all  who  are  incapable  of  measuring  and 
{  esteeming  solid  acquirements  and  intellectual  superiority, 
1  even  when  sheltered  from  the  vulgar  stare  by  a  plain  and 
c  Unassuming  external  demeanor. 

"25.    In  my  estimation  of  others,  let  ignorance,  when  no 

*  opportunity  has  been  had  to  remove  it,  be  treated  with  kind- 
'  ness  and  indulgence;  where  it  co-exists  with  a  wish  and  ef- 
c  fort  to  remove  it,  let  it  command  my  favour  and  assistance; 
(  where  it  is  accompanied  with  the  contented  complacency  of 
1  the  fool  whom  it  debases,  let  it  make  me  blush  for  the  heart 
c  of  a  brute  in  the  form  of  a  human  being;  but,  when  with 
c  swaggering  pretensions  either  to  knowledge  or  respect  on 
{  some  other  grounds,  it  merits  an  equal  share  of  the  pro- 
1  foundest  contempt  and  detestation. 

"To  conclude, — I  fully  believe  in  a  particular  Providence 

*  regulating  and  ordering  the  conduct  and  purposes  of  men; 
'  so  as  to  leave  the  voluntary  agent  accountable.     We  shall 
1  be  instruments  to  fulfil  the  Divine  purposes  nolcntes  volentcs. 
'  If  wickedness  succeed  for  a  time,  it  prospers  by  the  Divine 
{  decree  and  can  only  proceed  a  given  number  of  links  in 
£  its  chain." 


LIFE    OF   ASHMUN.  173 

His  private  Journal  contains  the  following  notices  of  his 
studies  during  this  period.  On  the  4th  of  November,  after 
alluding  to  the  '''mercantile  mania  which  had  possessed  him" 
the  preceding  year,  he  observes:  "This  gave  way  in  the 
4  early  part  of  1823,  to  the  ambition  of  becoming  the  general 
1  scholar,  acquiring  an  easy  and  correct  style,  and  that  varie- 
1  ty  of  knowledge  necessary  as  a  qualification  to  a  periodical 
1  essayist,  whose  views  should  embrace,  at  the  same  time, 
1  both  popularity  and  general  usefulness. 

"But  my  reflections  were  too  active  to  suffer  me  long  to 
1  acquiesce  in  so  precarious  a  prospect.  We  must  have  bread. 
1  And  this  pursuit  would  starve  any  one  in  the  U.  States. 

<  Besides,  what  is  a  man's  life  worth  to  him  for  any  present 

*  happiness  it  is  capable  of  imparting,  without  possessing  the 
'  respect  of  his  fellow-men,  and  some  reputable  rank  in  the 

<  scale  of  society?     Old  as  I  am,  I  reflected,  I  have  formed 
{  myself  to  industrious  and  studious  habits.     My  mind  has 
'  more  strength  and  vigour,  perhaps,  than  at  any  previous 
(  period  of  my  life.     Even  the  most  intricate  investigations  of 
4  literature,  and  of  any  of  the  sciences  except  mathematics, 
1  are  a  pleasure  to  me.    I  am  disentangled  from  many  of  the 
1  embarrassments  of  my  private  circumstances.     I  shall,  per- 
f  haps,  enjoy  as  much  of  life,  even  while  studying  a  profes- 
1  sion  as  in  any  other  pursuit,  or  in  no  pursuit,  during  the 
c  same  period, — shall  stand  an  equal  chance  of  being  csteem- 
1  ed  by  others,  and  shall  cultivate  my  mind  as  much  by  that 
4  as  any  other  study.    Accordingly,  about  the  middle  of  Au- 
'  gust,  I  recommenced  the  Law. 

"While  going  through  the  first  volume  of  Blackstone,  I 
{  read  Junius,  the  History  of  England  by  Aquetil,  Dr.  Ko- 
;  c  bertson's  America,  a  part  of  Marshall's  Life  of  Washington, 
•'  (third  volume,)  Hamilton's  political  writings,  a  part  of  Ro- 
c  bertson's  Scotland,  Voltaire's  essays,  the  Pioneers,  and  Ma- 
{  dame  Do  Stael's  Delphine,  (volume  first,)  in  French;  besides 

*  a  variety  of  historical  and  political  tracts. — I  read  with 


174  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

<  great  deliberation  and  accuracy — and  did  not  begin  on  the 
c  second  volume  before  the  20th  of  October. 

"I  have  now  nearly  completed  the  volume,  reviewing  a 
1  large  portion  of  it  as  I  proceed — and  except  Burr's  Trial,. 
1  and  the  article  Law  in  Rees'  Encyclopedia,  have  engaged  in 
1  little  foreign  reading." 

On  the  28th  of  the  same  month,  he  writes:  "Through  the 
c  good  Providence  of  God,  I  have  this  evening  finished,  in  the 

*  midst  of  countless  interruptions,  frequent  indispositions, 
'  and  sometimes  depressing  anxieties,  Blackstone's  Commen- 
1  taries;  and  that  with  occasional  reviews  and  as  much  applica- 

<  tion  of  thought  as  I  was  master  of.     A  rule  which  I  have 
1  generally  observed,  is  to  leave  no  passage  without  obtaining 
c  as  clear  and  distinct  a  conception ,  of  the  meaning  as  the 

*  means  in  my  power  admitted.     But  I  have  several  times 

*  departed,  I  confess,  from  this  rule,  from  mere  lassitude  and 

*  weariness;  sensations  which  none  but  law  students  in  tro- 
1  pical  Africa  can  fully  know  the  difficulty  of  conquering. 
'*  I  now  begin  to  consider  myself  a  sort  of  indented  appren- 
< tice  to  the  Law,  and  do  flatter  myself  that  the  most  irk- 

*  some  part  of  the  study,  consisting  in  the  first  rudiments 
1  and  leading  technical  phrases  of  the  science,  are  gone 
1  through  with. 

"I  had  the  satisfaction  to  remark,  in  reading  the  last  book, 

<  that  I  recollected  the  principles  of  the  three  first,  as  they 

*  were  casually  alluded  to;  and  very  seldom  had  occasion  to 

<  refer  back  for  the  explanation  of  recurring  technical  terms 
6  and  phrases.    The  'only  notes  I  have  taken,  are  about  a 
4  score  of  legal  modes  of  expression — choosing,  according  to 
'  Dr.  Watts'  advice,  to  make  the  text  itself  my  common-place 

*  book. 

"The  studies  which  I  have  occasionally  mingled  with  the 
i  perusal  of  the  two  last  volumes,  have  been,  a  Review  of 
1  French  Grammar — Voltaire's  critical  writings — his  History 
c  of  the  Religious  wars  in  France,  and  a  part  of  the  Henri- 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  175 

c  ade — Mosheim's  Church  History,  (volume  third,)  English 

*  History,  and  a  few  unconnected  articles  in  Rees'  Encyclo- 

<  pedia.     I  have  also  begun  to  throw  together,  in  a  concise, 

*  and  somewhat  of  a  methodical  form,  a  synopsis  of  my  re- 

*  ligious  faith,  for  my  own  use,     The  proofs  being  familiar 

*  to  my  thoughts,   I  have  commonly  neglected  to  state  at 
1  length.     This  last,  I  endeavour  to  make  a  serious  and  pro- 
1  fitable  engagement. 

"I  have,  lastly,  with  an  air  I  fear  of  tyro  pedantry,  written 
1  out  a  few  very  brief  and  imperfect  law  theses,  of  w.hich  I 
1  hope  very  soon  to  be  heartily  ashamed. 

"I  think  I  have  devoted,  of  absolute  time  to  the  Commen- 
c  taries,  about  four  hours  daily,  a  little  short  of  three  months; 
4  and  as  may  well  be  supposed,  have  suffered  considerably 
'  in  health  by  the  effort:  for  this  labour  is  not  a  substitute, 
£  but  an  addition  to  all  my  official  services  in  the  Colony. — 

<  But  a  person  in  my  circumstances,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 

*  nine, .  must  use  exertion  and  perseverance  in  acquiring  a 

<  profession  to  which  he  has  not  yet  been  bred — or  reconcile 

*  himself  to  the  mortification  and  meanness  of  being  a  smat- 
c  terer  all  his  days." 

It  is  evident  from  the  Journals  and  other  manuscripts  of 
Mr.  Ashmun,  that  the  preceding  extracts  present  but  a  par- 
tial view  of  the  variety  and  extent  of  his  studies  and  investi- 
gations during  the  period  to  which  they  relate.  He  rejoiced 
like  a  strong  man  to  run  the  race  of  improvement,  and  shook 
'despondency  from  him  in  his  giant  course.  In  consequence 
of  the  protracted  illness  of  Dr.  Ayres,  his  expectations  of  re- 
lief from  public  duty,  were  but  in  a  small  degree  realized. 
But  no  moment  escaped  the  use  of  his  industry,  and  the  ac- 
tion of  his  mind  was  increased  by  pressure. 

That  his  religious  character  had  been  the  subject  of  a 
.somewhat  varied,  but  decided  declension,  during  the  interval 
between  his  departure  from  Maine  and  a  period  subsequent 
to  his  arrival  in  Africa,  is  to  be  inferred  as  Mr.  Ashmun's 


176  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

opinion,  from  several  passages  in  his  writings.  Nor  was  it 
to  be  expected  that  a  mind  like  his,  (considering  the  nature 
of  the  discipline  which  Providence  had  selected  for  his  bene- 
fit,) should  on  no  occasion  have  evinced  feelings  hostile  to 
the  dictates  of  true  wisdom,  and  its  own  settled  principles  of 
duty. 

His  sins  were  not  concealed  from  himself,  and  he  sought 
not  to  cover  them  before  God.  His  remarks  upon  his  reli- 
gious state  and  experience  show,  that  he  cherished  habitu- 
ally a  deep  reverence  for  the  Word  and  Providence  of  God; 
and  that  he  felt  the  supreme  importance  of  possessing  an  in- 
terest in  the  Divine  favour.  Wounded  pride  might  prompt 
occasional  severity  of  remark,  or  impatience  be  excited  by 
reiterated  disappointment;  yet  soon  after  his  arrival  in  Afri- 
ca, his  heart  appears  to  have  been  pervaded  with  a  sense  of 
his  sinfulness,  to  have  submitted  humbly  to  afflictions,  and 
sought  with  earnestness,  the  benefits  which  he  trusted  they 
were  intended  to  convey  to  his  soul.  If  misanthropy  ever 
cast  her  shadow  upon  him,  it  was  only  until  he  could 
raise  his  eyes  towards  the  Heavens,  and  behold  them  bright 
with  love  to  mankind.  His  circumstances  when  he  penn- 
ed the  Journal  from  which  we  present  a  few  extracts, 
should  not  be  forgotten.  That  he  was  not  meeker  than  Mo- 
ses, and  more  patient  than  Job,  should  not  be  remembered 
to  his  reproach. 

March  Wth,  1823. 

"This  is  the  third  day  of  my  possessing  comfortable  health 

*  after  lying  about  six  months  under  a  variety  of  distressing 

<  and  dangerous  disorders.     I  had  a  public  thank-offering 
1  put  up  in  the  morning  for  my  recovery.    Heavenly  Father, 

*  make  me  more  thankful;  and  may  gratitude,  and  obedience, 

*  and  humility,  and  deadness  to  the  world,  take  place  in  me 

<  of  those  lusts  and  vices  which  ruled  my  soul  and  stained 
£  my  life  before  my  affliction. 

"Have  lately  addicted  myself  to  reading  the  word  of  God. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  177 

"Have  had  some  religious,  and  I  believe  spiritual  comfort 

*  to-day.    May  the  living  Spirit,  and  enlightening  word  of 

*  God  my  Saviour,  lead  me  condescendingly  along,  till  I  shall 
(  have  acquired  a  little  stability,  a  little  strength,  and  a  little 

*  saving  knowledge  of  Thee,  O  my  precious  Redeemer.    Be- 
(  setting  sins,  passion,  pride,  and  love  of  the  world. 

April  13. 
"The  cares  and  business  of  the  past  two  weeks,  have  occu- 

*  pied  nearly  all  my  thoughts.    My  captious  and  irritable  dis- 

*  positions,  not  being  well  guarded,  have  prevailed.  But  God's 

*  spirit,  I  believe,  is  not  entirely  withdrawn.     He  still  fulfills 
1  the  office  of  convincing,  if  not  of  sanctifying  and  comforting. 
'  I  feel  and  lament  my  want  of  gratitude  to  God  for  temporal 

*  and  spiritual  blessings,  but  more  the  former  than  the  latter. 

"I  am  burdened  with  my  own  sloth  and  stupidity  in  my 
(  Heavenly  Master's  work.     Alas  !  alas  !  my  insincerity,  in 

*  prayer,  in  reading  God's  word,  in  religious  conversation. 

"I  use  my  unruly  tongue  too  much;  and  it  is  naturally  'full 
4  of  deadly  poison.'    'In  a  multitude  of  words  there  wanteth 

*  not  sin;'  and  so  I  have  found  it.     O  Lord  God,  help  me  by 
1  Thy  Grace,  to  bridle  this  member,  that  with  it,  I  may  also 
<  govern  the  whole  body — through  Jesus  Christ  my  Lord. 

"I  am  sometimes  anxious  to  exhibit  more  of  the  practical 

*  power  of  religion  to  the  numerous  strangers  who  are  now 
1  with  us.    They  have  seen  little  in  me  to  demonstrate  its  in- 
1  fluence  on  the  character  and  conduct.     I  fear  that  some  as- 
1  sociate  its  very  idea  with  my  infirmities.    But  I  look  to 

*  Thee,  O  God,  for  pardon,  for  wisdom,  for  sanctification,  for 
1  a  right  spirit  and  grace  to  live  a  holy  life.    It  is  my  desire. 
'  Thou  hast  inspired  it.     O  Father,  increase  it;   perfect  it, 

*  fulfil  it;  and  be  Thine  the  glory,  ages  without  end.    Amen. 

SUNDAY,  June  8th. 

'•'How  difficult  for  a  person  whose  heart  is  but  slightly  im- 
1  bued  with  sanctifying  grace,  to  persevere  in  keeping  a  reli- 

*  gious  diary !    What  has  caused  this  chasm  of  nearly  two 

23 


178  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

1  months — the  omission  of  eight  entries  in  this  ?  Spiritual 
'  indifference.  But  is  the  nearly  extinguished  spark  rekin- 
c  died  in  my  breast,  that  I  now  resume  it  ?  I  dare  not  say  it. 
'  But  some  more  regularity  and  freedom  prevails,  in  the  per- 
'  formance  of  private  duties,  than  has  lately  been  usual.  I 
'  have  consecrated  a  little  spot  for  retirement,  meditation,  and 
c  prayer,  at  no  great  distance  from  the  house.  While  here 
'  waiting  on  God,  a  spirit  of  supplication,  if  I  deceive  not 
1  myself,  has  been  afforded;  and  a  divine  peace,  for  short 
1  seasons,  possessed  my  heart.  What  treasures  of  grace  have 
{ I  forfeited,  by  neglecting,  more  punctually  heretofore  to 
1  avail  myself  of  a  similar  arrangement !  I  am  conscious 
{ that  God  delights  in  the  faithful  performance  of  all  His 
(  gracious  promises,  and  of  none  more  than  His  engagement 
1  to  bless  the  means  of  an  increase  of  grace  which  He  has 
1  Himself  ordained. 

July  27th. 

"I  suffer  great  loss  from  irregularity  in  my  private  devo- 
1  tions.  While  I  had  a  place  to  retire  to,  sacred  to  prayer  and 
1  reflection,  I  could  perceive,  I  thought,  s6me  signs  of  a  prin- 
'  ciple  of  life  in  my  heart.  Independent  of  the  answers  that 
'  may  have  been  granted  to  my  formal  petitions,  the  practice 
1  had  a  salutary  effect  on  my  temper  and  deportment  through 
4  the  day.  I  felt  a  joyous,  though  still  imperfect,  confidence 

*  that  God  was  my  conductor  in  all  my  enterprises  and  la- 
'  bours — and  that  He  exercised  a  special  preventive  and  over- 
1  ruling  Providence  in  all  that  regarded  me,  limiting  or  con- 

*  verting  to  good,  the  effects  of  thousands  of  my  heedless 

*  words  and  actions. 

"The  pursuit  of  gain,  has  presented  attractions  which  I 
1  never  discovered  before.     This  is  the  perversion  of  a  pur- 

*  pose,  originally  good.    I  have  debts  to  pay;  and  money 
1  must  be  raised.    But  once  given  up  to  the  pursuit,  my 
<  thoughts  directly  extended  themselves  to  other  views  of 

*  personal  aggrandizement,  and  slothful  self-indulgence. — 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  179 

*  These  sometimes  give  to  the  object  a  chief  value.    I  am 
'  convinced  of  the  force  and  truth  of  the  Apostle's  declaration, 

*  That  the  love  of  money,  &c.  That  they  that  will  be  rich,  &c. 
f  And  where  money  is  the  main  drift  of  existence,  how  does 
1  the  vile  passion  stifle  in  its  birth  every  noble  sentiment 

*  of  the  soul!     Adieu!  sympathy  in  the  joys  or  sorrows  of 
'  others.  Adieu!  to  every  liberal  feeling — every  beneficent  act. 
1  Adieu!  from  that  moment,  strict  integrity  of  principle  and 
'  practice.    Adieu!  that  openness  and  candor  of  character, 

*  worth  to  the  possessor  more  than  a  ton  of  gold.    Adieu!  that 

*  sensibility  of  social  feeling,  which  is  the  source  of  by  far 
'  the  most  cordial  of  our  earthly  enjoyments.     Adieu!  enjoy- 
'  ment  too.     The  chase  is,  in  itself,  vexatious  and  wounding, 
1  beyond  any  other.     Few  are  more  Liable  to  disappoint  the 

*  deluded  votary. 

SUNDAY,  August  3d. 
"Yesterday,  I  received  by  the  return  of  the  Augusta,  from 

*  Sierra  Leone,  the  tidings  of  the  death  of  Lieut.  Dashiell — a 

<  shock  of  corn  taken  into  his  Master's  granary  fully  ripe. — 
1  Often  had  we  mingled  our  devotions,   while  cruising  the 
1  African  coast;  and  several  times  entered  into  a  very  par- 

*  ticular  detail  of  our  mutual  griefs  and  temptations.     His 

*  were  many;  but  they  were  richly  mingled  with  spiritual 

<  comforts,  and  overcome  by  a  vigorous  faith  in  the  Redeemer. 
£  The  unexpected  intelligence  of  his  death,  depresses  my 
1  spirits.     I  have  not  a  hold  on  Christ  strong  enough  to  sus- 
1  tain  Christian  equanimity  amidst  the  shifting  scenes  and 
'  mixed  events  of  this  miserable  world.    Prosperity  elates  me 
1  with  inordinate  and  presumptuous  joy.    Adversity  sinks 
1  my  heart  below  the  humble  level  at  which  it  ought  to  rest, 

I  buoyed  up  by  Christian  hope.  Like  the  chameleon,  I  take  the 

*  colour  of  contiguous  objects.    My  Redeemer!  approach,  that 

I 1  may  receive  and  reflect  Thy  image.     My  mind  is  habitu- 
'  ally  filled  half  with  hope  and  half  with  despair.    I  know 
i  not  of  what  spirit  I  am.     I  am  an  egregious  trifler,  even  in 


180  LIFE    OF   ASHMUN. 

'  Religion.  O  Lord,  enlighten,  if  Thou  hast  ever  chosen  me, 
'  Resolutions  falter,  and  rules  fly  under  almost  every  change 
'  of  situation  and  feeling.  But  it  is  an  endless  work  that  I 
'  have  entered  upon.  I  give  over  exclaiming  all  infirmity, 
'  all  corruption,  all  perverseness  about  me.  In  my  Re- 
£  deemer  all  is  perfection,  holiness,  and  grace.  Sink  where, 
c  and  when  I  may,  millions  will  rejoice  eternally  in  Him. — 
1  Lord,  restore  and  save  Thy  servant  in  Him. 

August  24. 

"The  climate  is  not  unpleasant.  I  can  pursue  any  piece 
1  of  intellectual  labour  as  assiduously,  and  succeed  as  well  in 
1  it,  as  I  ever  could  in  my  life.  For  these  benefits  thrown 

<  back  upon  me  after  I  believed  Divine  Providence  had  with- 

*  drawn  them  from  me  forever,  I  do  not,  I  confess  it  with 

*  shame,  render  to  God  a  reasonable  tribute  of  gratitude. — 
1  There  is  my  Heavenly  Benefactor  to  whom  I  am  not  grate- 
'  ful !     Tell  me,  conscience,  am  I,  or  am  I  not,  this  disingen- 

<  uous  wretch  ?      Where's  the  man  that  would  not  resent 
'  such  a  requital  ?     Among  my  best  friends,  which  possesses 
'  the  friendship  that  would  survive  it  1     Lord  God,  merciful 
1  and  gracious,  what  reason  have  I  to  admire  and  praise  the 
'  forbearance  which  it  is  the  property  of  infinite  love  to  exer- 
1  cise,  if  no  instance  of  it  but  that  registered  in  my  own  expe- 
1  rience,  had  ever  come  to  light  ? 

August  31. 

"I  have  meditated  to-day  on  the  four  remarkable  interposi- 
'  tions  of  Divine  Providence,  in  the  progress  of  my  life,  to> 
1  preserve  me  from  courses,  which  if  entered  upon,  could  hard- 
( ly  have  been  relinquished  before  they  would  have  conduct- 
'  ed  me  to  my  ruin. 

"Now,  the  first  sentiment  which  a  review  of  this  very  small 
1  portion  of  God's  merciful  Providence  ought  to  awaken,  is 
'  gratitude,  and  the  first  act  which  it  should  dictate,  thanks- 
'  giving.  In  the  next  place,  may  it  not  authorize  some  little 
'  hope,  that  God  lias  thus  restrained  my  own  hands  from  dis- 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  181 

'  qualifying  myself  to  do  any  more  good  in  the  world,  in  or- 
'  der  to  use  me  for  that  very  purpose,  before  He  calls  me  out 
'  of  it  ?  Where  there  is  a  foundation  for  indulging  a  confi- 
1  deuce  of  this  nature,  I  say  let  hope  build  upon  it.  We  need 
'  encouragement,  as  well  as  our  fears,  to  excite  us  to  duty." 

Mr.  Ashmun,  it  is  presumed,  was  at  this  time,  not  fully 
aware  of  the  imputations  cast  upon  his  character,  by  indivi- 
duals in  the  United  States;  yet  he  saw,  and  keenly  felt,  that 
his  services  in  Africa  were  undervalued,  and  that  the  confi- 
dence to  which,  thereby,  he  was  justly  entitled,  was  with- 
held. That  "chastity  of  honour  which  feels  a  stain  like  a 
wound,"  will  not  censure  harshly,  the  transient  sentiment 
which  dictated  the  following  passages: — 

"I  am  now  advancing  rapidly  to  the  meridian  of  my  day. 
{ 1  am  without  a  profession,  without  patrimony  or  friends  to 
'  advance  me  to  a  station  of  usefulness,  responsibility  and  in- 
1  fluence;  and,  at  present,  without  country  or  a  sound  state 
1  of  bodily  health. 

"  My  dear  and  honoured  parents  excepted,  I  am  a  stranger 
c  at  large  in  the  world,  and  the  world  a  wilderness  to  me, 
'  without  a  solitary  point  of  attraction.  I  charge  much  of 
i  my  unhappiness  upon  myself,  and  will  not  abjure  my  coun- 
'  try.  But  that  country  has  failed  to  afford  me  the  means, 
1  and  to  protect  me  in  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  although  I 
1  have  spent  all  the  most  valuable  part  of  my  life  in  qualify- 
*  ing  and  exerting  myself  for  public  usefulness.  Should  Af- 
'  rica  reject  me,  I  should  float  with  equal  indifference,  to 
1  whichever  of  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe  the  wind  and 
1  the  current  might  sweep  me.  Possibly  I  may  find  a  resting 
'  place  yet,  this  side  of  my  grave,  where  affection  may  again 
1  strike  root,  and  a  little  verdant  spot  again  freshen  into  love- 
'  liness.  Possibly,  the  decline  of  life  may  slide  me  into  some 
'  vale,  where  a  new  circle  of  friends  shall  repair  the  wreck  of 
1  former  attachments — where  the  storms  of  existence  shall 
c  exhaust  their  force  on  the  barrier  which  secures  my  retreat 


182  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

{  — where  new  attachments  shall  create  themselves  in  sue- 
1  cession,  and  where  I  may  impart  enjoyment  to  others,  and 
'  come  in  for  a  small  share  of  it  myself. 

"Such  is  my  reverie.  It  contains  some  reflections  which 
1  rather  tend  to  harden,  than  improve  the  heart,  and  it  ought 
1  not  to  be  indulged." 

On  his  arrival,  Dr.  Ayres  had  done  what  he  could  to  pro- 
mote the  comfort  and  health  of  the  emigrants  who  came  with 
him  in  the  Oswego;  but  he  soon  became  ill,  and  was  com- 
pelled to  trust  to  the  representations  of  the  Rev.  Lott  Gary, 
(faithful,  but  without  medical  education,  or  then,  much  expe- 
rience,) in  prescribing  for  those  who  were  suffering  like  him- 
self from  the  disease  of  the  country.  The  houses  of  the  new- 
ly arrived  company,  were  miserably  constructed;  and  by  the 
inclemency  of  the  season,  scanty  supplies  of  Hospital  stores, 
and  want  of  adequate  medical  aid,  eight  out  of  their  number 
(sixty)  died. 

In  the  course  of  the  autumn,  the  town  lots  were  laid  off 
and  distributed  among  the  settlers,  and  a  Committee  of  their 
number  appointed  to  make  monthly  reports  to  the  Agent,  of 
the  agricultural  industry  and  improvements.  Some  of  the 
earliest  and  most  intelligent  Colonists  refused  to  receive 
their  lots,  (alleging  that  they  had,  under  the  sanction  of  the 
Agent,  on  a  former  occasion,  drawn  the  lots  already  occupied 
by  them,)  and  resolved  to  prepare  and  transmit  an  appeal  to 
the  Board. 

The  proposition  of  Mr.  Ashmun  in  regard  to  the  terms  on 
which  he  would  remain  in  the  service  of  the  Society  in  Afri- 
ca, was  considered  by  the  Managers  on  the  25th  of  Septem- 
ber, when  they  decided  that,  considering  the  resources  of  the 
Institution,  they  could  not  make  the  arrangements  and  ap- 
propriate the  salary  required;  but  that  they  would  make  him 
as  full  and  fair  a  compensation  for  any  services  he  might  be 
desired  by  Dr.  Ayres  to  render  to  the  affairs  of  the  Colony, 
as  their  funds  would  enable  them  to  do,  and  that  while  re- 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  183 

siding  with  Dr.  Ayres  and  employed  in  assisting  him,  he 
should  be  maintained  and  provided  for  at  the  expense  of  the 
Society.*  Of  this  decision,  Mr.  Ashmun  appears  to  have 
been  informed  in  December,  at  the  very  time  when  Dr. 
Ayres  had  resolved,  for  the  benefit  of  his  shattered  health, 
and  in  the  hope  of  relieving  the  necessities  and  embarrass- 
ments of  the.Qolony,  to  embark  for  the  United  States.  The 
Packet  (belonging  to  a  trading  company  of  Baltimore)  by 
which  came  despatches,  and  in  which  Dr.  Ayres  resolved  to 
return  home,  brought  eleven  recaptured  Africans  sent  out  by 
Government,  who  were  restored  to  their  friends  residing  at 
no  great  distance  from  the  Colony.  She  gave  discouraging 
accounts  of  the  resources  and  prospects  of  the  Society,  re- 
turned a  bill  drawn  on  Government  by  Mr.  Ashmun  (for  ar- 
ticles of  indispensable  necessity)  protested,  and  having  dis 
posed  of  nearly  all  her  cargo  at  the  Rio  Pongas,  left  goods 
not  exceeding  the  value  of  one  hundred  dollars  at  the  Cape. 

Mr.  Ashmun  had  been  more  than  a  year  in  Africa;  with  the 
assistance  of  God  had  saved  the  Colony  from  extermination; 
devoted  himself  in  sickness,  as  well  as  health,  to  its  interests; 
and  now  learned,  that  neither  the  Government  nor  the  Socie- 
ty had  made  any  appropriation  for  his  benefit;  and  that  (al- 
though to  the  latter  had  been  submitted  a  distinct  proposi- 
tion,) neither  had  determined  the  amount  to  which  his  past 
or  future  services  should  entitle  him.  Should  he  abandon 
the  Colony  at  this  crisis,  when  the  principal  Agent  was  leav- 
ing it,  its  ruin  seemed  inevitable.  The  most  influential  Co- 
lonists were  greatly  dissatisfied  with  the  distribution  of  the 
town  lots;  their  confidence  both  in  the  Board  and  their  Agents 
was  shaken,  and  a  spirit  of  insubordination  had  already  shown 
itself,  menacing  destruction  to  all  law  and  authority.  One  in- 

*  A  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  Board  at  this  time,  that  in  case  of  the 
death  or  absence  of  the  principal  Agent,  and  his  failure  to  designate  a  succes- 
sor, the  person  next  in  authority,  should  for  the  time  being,  assume  and  dis- 
charge the  duties  of  principal  Agent. 


184  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

dividual  declared  that  he  and  his  associates  would  not  sub- 
mit to  Government  twenty-four  hours  after  the  departure  of 
the  Fidelity;  but  the  energy  of  Mr.  Ashmun,  who  declared 
that  subordination  should  be  enforced,  even  at  the  expense 
of  life,  compelled  him  to  revoke  the  threat,  and  pledge  him- 
self to  the  maintenance  of  the  laws. 

Mr.  Ashmun  felt  that  it  was  a  great  misery  not  to  know 
whom  to  trust,  a  greater  not  he  trusted;*  but"  the  greatest  of 
all  a  consciousness  of  being  unworthy  to  be  trusted,  he  could 
bless  God  was  still  with  him  no  matter  of  experience.  The 
motto  of  the  venerable  Archbishop  Whitgift,  seems  to  have 
been  his — "vine-it  qui  patitur" — he  conquers  that  endures. 
He  resolved  to  remain  at  his  post,  and  trust  himself  to  pa- 
tience, to  time,  and  to  truth.  He  knew  that  no  man's  case  is 
desperate,  whose  conscience  has  not  turned  to  be  his  enemy. 

On  the  5th  of  December,  he  wrote  to  a  friend: — "In  regard 
1  to  my  private  affairs,  they  are  as  discouragingly  perplexed 
'  as  I  can  well  imagine.  If  exile,  and  bread  and  water  were 
1  all,  nobody  should  hear  me  complain,  if  I  thought  duty  re- 

*  quired  my  submission.    But  to  be  compelled  to  withhold 
1  justice  from  my  friends  and  incur  their  censures,  and  lose 
i  their  confidence,  requires  stoicism  indeed,  and  I  am  no  phi- 

*  losopher. 

"And  in  yielding  to  feelings  which  I  am  as  unwilling  as 
4  unable  to  repress,  I  must  trouble  yourself  and  the  Board  with 

*  the  following  proposition: — 

"  That  whenever  my  services  shall  close,  with  the  Socie- 
1  ty's  approbation,  their  compensation  shall  be  liquidated 
'  by  the  payment  within  two  months  thereafter,  of  two  hun- 
k  dred  dollars — and  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  quarterly 

*  afterwards  till  the  whole  is  discharged  with  or  without  in- 
1  terest  at  their  option.     This  arrangement,  however,  not  to 
1  bar  any  earlier  payments  the  Board  may  be  pleased  to 

*  South. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  185 

(  make,  in  case  they  come  into  possession  of  sufficient 
1  funds. 

"My  claim  on  the  United  States  has  not  yet  positively  been 
4  rejected.  I  shall  send  per  the  Fidelity,  a  brief  memorial  in 
f  the  nature  of  a  bill  in  equity,  to  Mr.  Monroe,  about  which 
1  there  shall  be  nothing  official  whatever.  My  Dear  Sir,  I 
1  cannot  tell  you  how  sorely  my  natural  pride  is  mortified  by 
*  these  humiliating  steps.  But  you  who  understand  my  rea- 
4  sons,  will  justify  them.  The  Board  will  feel  themselves 
'  unrestrained  by  any  motives  of  regard  to  my  private  inter- 
1  est,to  revoke  my  appointment  by  return  of  Packet;  although 
* 1  have  not  absolutely  decided  to  resign,  if  -left  to  me,  till 
1  another  arrival  or  two  then  future."* 

The  provisions  when  Dr.  Ayres  left  the  Colony,  were  suffi- 
cient, with  strict  economy,  and  such  supplies  of  rice  as  might 
be  expected  from  trade  with  the  natives,  to  subsist  the  settlers 
for  four  months.  Happily  a  small  schooner  of  about  seven 
tons,  had  been  sent  out  by  the  Fidelity,  to  be  employed  by  the 
Agent  in  securing  provisions  from  different  points  of  the 
coast.  Tobacco,  however,  then  an  almost  indispensable  ar- 
ticle in  the  African  trade,  was  nearly  exhausted,  and  a  small 

*  Far  be  it  from  the  writer  to  censure  the  Managers;  but  they  were  like 
other  men  fallible;  and  that  they  continued  so  long  to  withhold  their  confidence 
from  Mr.  Ashmun,  was,  he  believes,  an  error. 

The  following  notice  of  a  communication  he  had  received  from  a  Commit- 
tee of  the  Board,  shows  his  determination  not  to  be  misapprehended  on  a  mat- 
ter touching  his  own  rights: 

"The  gentlemen  seem  not  to  have  understood  a  certain  point  of  my  request. 
I  did  not  ask  consent  to  vest  money  any  where,  because,  if  they  can  advance 
me  funds,  tis  for  me  to  vest  them  either  in  South  sea  stock,  Bank  of  Venice 
stock,  or  African  trading  stock.  Having  a  small  interest  in  the  last,  is  not  to 
turn  me  into  a  Clerk,  or  African  Factor — situations  which  I  will  accept,  never. 
I  asked  the  Society,  if  it  were  convenient  for  them  to  advance  a  sufficient 
sum,  on  account  of  salary,  to  be  good  enough  to  buy  stock  with  it;  and  receive 
in  reply,  that  they  do  not  object  to  my  baying  stock  for  myself.  I  mention  this  trifle 
without  the  least  feeling  of  disrespect  to  the  Board.  But  having  already,  tbo 
many  obligations  to  my  fellow-men,  I  am  not  willing  they  should  suppose  them 
multiplied,  where  /  can  feel  no  new  ones  myself." 

24 


186 


LIFE    OF   ASHMUN. 


supply  which  it  was  hoped  Dr.  Ayres  might  purchase  on  his 
way  home  at  Sierra  Leone,  was  not  obtained.     Slave  vessels 
in  unusual  numbers  were  upon  the  coast  enhancing  greatly 
the  demand  and  value  of  rice,  and  throwing  every  possible 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  traffic  of  the  Agents  of  the  Colony. 
Worse  than  all,  several  of  the  leading  settlers  were  prepared 
to  set  at  defiance  the  authority  of  the  Agent,  and  openly 
avowed  their  purpose  to  aid  in  no  survey  of  the  lots,*  or  in 
any  public  improvements,  and  to  leave  uncleared  and  uncul- 
tivated the  lands  assigned  them,  until  they  should  receive  a 
reply  to  their  remonstrance  already  sent  home  to  the  Board. 
It  was  at  that  time  one  of  the  regulations  of  the  Society,  that 
every  adult  male  emigrant  should,  while  receiving  rations 
from  the  public  store,  contribute  the  labour  of  two  days  in  a 
week,  to  some  work  of  public  utility.f    Before  the  departure 
of  Dr.  Ayres,  it  had  been  announced,  that  on  the  5th  of  June, 
1834,  all  rations  would  cease  except  in  case  of  special  neces- 
sity, and  that,  unless  those  who  had  appealed  to  the  Board  on 
the  subject  of  their  lands,  should,  while  their  case  was  pend- 
ing, cultivate  some  portion  of  land  designated  by  the  Agent, 
they  should  be  expelled  from  the  Colony.     About  twelve  of 
the  Colonists  not  only  cast  off  the  restraints  of  authority,  but 
exerted  themselves  to  seduce  others  from  obedience.     On  the 
13th  of  December,  Mr,  Ashmun  published  the  following 
notice: 

"There  are  in  the  Colony  more  than  a  dozen  healthy  per- 

*  sons,  who  will  receive  no  more  provisions  out  of  the  public 

*  store  till  they  earn  them."     This  notice  proved  inefficient, 
except  as  it  gave  occasion  for  the  expression  of  more  seditious 
sentiments  and  a  bolder  violation  of  the  laws. 

On  the  19th,  the  Agent  directed  the  rations  of  the  offend- 

*  The  lands  were  covered  with  a  thick  undergrowth,  so  that  it  was  neces- 
sary to  cut  out  every  line  before  a  survey  could  be  made. 

f  This  regulation  was  dispensed  with,  on  condition  that  each  individual 
should  diligently  cultivate  his  own  lands. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  187 

ing  individuals  to  be  stopped.  The  next  morning  they  as- 
sembled in  a  riotous  manner  at  the  Agency-House,  endeav- 
oured by  angry  denunciations,  to  drive  the  Agent  from  his 
purpose,  which  finding  immoveable,  they  proceeded  to  the 
Store-House  where  the  Commissary  was  at  that  moment  is- 
suing rations  for  the  week,  and  seizing  each  a  portion  of  the 
provisions,  hastened  to  their  respective  homes. 

Towards  evening,  the  same  day,  Mr.  Ashmun  addressed  a 
circular  "to  all  the  Colonists,"  setting  forth  the  criminality 
of  this  mutinous  proceeding;  stating  that  a  full  representation 
thereof  would  be  transmitted  to  America  by  the  earliest  op- 
portunity; exhorting  all  to  industry  and  energy  in  the  con- 
struction of  their  houses  and  the  cultivation  of  their  lands 
during  the  dry  season;  and  finally  "warning  them  against 
disorder  and  rebellion,  as  they  would  avoid  guilt,  confusion, 
disgrace,  shame,  and  ruin  in  this  world,"  and  in  a  future  one 
the  still  more  terrible  judgments  of  God.     They  were  re- 
minded that  their  oaths  were  as  binding  as  when  first  taken; 
that  the  prospect  for  themselves,  their  friends,  and  their  chil- 
dren, depended  upon  their  conduct;  and  that  the  Agent  while 
disposed  to  use  the  language  of  friendship,  would  act  as  he 
had  ever  done,  with  the  authority  becoming  the  Representa- 
tive of  the  American  Colonization  Society.     This  circular  en- 
couraged  the  well-disposed,  confirmed  in  duty  some  of  the 
wavering,  and  struck  with  awe  the  spirit  of  outrage.     The 
leader  of  the  sedition,  almost  immediately  confessed  and  de- 
plored his  error. 

On  the  13th  of  February,  arrived  in  the  ship  Cyrus,  thirty- 
two  days  from  the  United  States,  one  hundred  and  five  emi- 
grants, mostly  from  Petersburg,  Virginia,  inferior,  as  a  compa- 
ny, to  none  of  their  class  in  intelligence,  industry,  and  mo- 
rality. Universal  health  had  attended  them  during  the 
voyage;  all  were  safely  landed;  some  had  property;  supplies  of 
ordinary  provisions  had  been  sent  out  for  all;  the  season  was 
delightful  for  building  and  clearing  their  grounds,  and  a  mutual 


188  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

affection  seemed  to  bind  them  together  as  in  one  harmonious 
family.  "God  Almighty  dispose  us,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Ashmun, 
"to  be  grateful  for  all  His  past  goodness,  and  not  even  in  the 
e  depth  of  the  furnace,  to  despair  of  the  future." 

These  emigrants  were  immediately  assembled,  the  views 
of  the  Society,  the  regulations  of  the  Colony,  and  the  circum- 
stances and  relations  of  their  new  situation,  were  fully  ex- 
plained, and  while  assured  of  every  aid  it  was  possible  for  the 
Agent  to  afford,  they  were  encouraged  to  proceed  diligently 
to  build  their  houses,  cultivate  the  soil,  and  resolutely  to  meet 
and  subdue  all  the  difficulties  and  obstacles  standing  in  the 
way  of  their  prosperity.  "They  conducted  themselves  on 
the  occasion,"  says  Mr.  Ashmun,  like  sensible,  inquisitive, 
efficient  men." 

Thirty  houses  had  been  partially  constructed  since  the  de- 
parture of  Dr.  Ayres,  and  a  new  magazine  commenced,  the 
apartment  in  the  tower  being  found  too  damp  to  preserve  the 
ammunition. 

By  the  Cyrus,  Mr.  Ashmun  transmitted  to  the  Board  a  full 
and  detailed  account  of  the  condition,  wants,  and  prospects  of 
the  Colony.  After  alluding  to  the  necessity  for  a  new  maga- 
zine, and  to  the  great  advantage  of  employing  native  laborers 
to  construct  it,  instead  of  taxing  the  labour  of  settlers,  whose 
constant  and  most  vigorous  efforts,  at  "that  precious  season," 
were  required  to  prepare  them  to  meet  with  safety,  the  ap- 
proaching rains,  he  adds:  "As  your  instructions  on  the  sub- 
1  ject  of  contracting  debts  are,  however,  imperative,  I  shall 
1  forego  the  suggestions  of  my  own  judgment,  while  I  remain, 
1  without  an  express  credit,  unless  such  a  crisis  of  necessity 

*  should  again  recur,  as  to  suspend  some  of  the  vital  interests 
c  of  the  Colony,  on  the  resumption  of  such  a  responsibility. 
'  Such  a  crisis,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  not  soon  recur,  since  the 
1  Colony  has  obtained  at  length  that  establishment,  with  a 
1  view  to  which  my  former  drafts  were  all  hazarded.    On  this 

*  subject,  as  your  letter  alludes  to  it  very  pointedly,  I  beg  leave 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  189 

« to  state,  that  I  never  thought  myself  authorized  merely  by 

*  my  appointment  to  the  Agency,  to  negotiate  drafts  on  your 
c  funds — much  less,  to  draw  on  Government  funds  without 
1  being  authorized  even  to  serve  as  their  Agent.     But  in  pur- 

*  chasing  supplies  for  the  Colony,  in  its  extremities,  I  acted 
1  much  as  I  should  have  done,  had  the  Society  and  Govern- 

*  ment  never  heard  my  name.     I  declare  in  the  face  of  Heav- 
1  en,  that  without  some  of  those  supplies,  your  Colony  would 
1  have  been  destroyed  by  famine  and  the  sword,  if  God  had 
'  not  performed  a  miracle  to  save  it.     Others  were  purchased 

<  to  save  the  people  from  extreme  suffering.     A  small  amount 

*  might  have  been  dispensed  with,  had  I  known  (what  I  could 

*  not  know)  when  the  opportunity  to  purchase  offered,  that 
i  supplies  were  on  the  way  from  America.     Now  the  neces- 
c  sity  of  assuming  these  responsibilities  can  never  return  again 
£  in  the  same  degree.     You  never  again  will  have  twenty- 

<  five  men  only*  with  a  company  of  helpless  women  and 

<  children,  five  thousand  miles  distant  from  you,  unsheltered 
'  in  the  midst  of  the  rains,  without  fortifications,  or  even  a 
4  slight  paling  between  their  habitations  and  a  sanguinary 
{  and  numerous  enemy,  in  the  bosom  of  a  frowning  forest, 

*  and  one  half  of  them  wasted  by  sickness  to  a  state  of  infant 
4  weakness.      It  was    these   circumstances — circumstances 

<  peculiar  to  the  infancy  of  the  establishment,  which  rendered 
1  extraordinary  purchases,  and  unauthorized   expenditures 
4  unavoidable." 

The  joy  produced  by  the  arrival  of  the  Cyrus,  was  soon 
succeeded  by  dark  events.  All  who  came  in  this  vessel  were 
attacked  by  fever  within  four  weeks.  Not  a  pound  of  rice 
(an  article  most  important  to  the  sick)  was  in  the  public  store, 
nor  had  the  Agent  either  goods  or  credit,  by  which  he  could 
obtain  a  supply.  Out  of  his  own  private  stockt  he  advanced 

*  The  ten  others  who  took  part,  with  Mr.  Ashmun,  in  the  war,  were  recap- 
tured Africans,  under  the  charge  of  Government. 

t  Doubtless,  goods  which  he  had  purchased  for  the  Government  or  Society, 
and  for  which  the  drafts  given  in  payment  had  been  returned  protested. 


190  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

to  the  value  of  about  two  hundred  dollars,  and  despatched  the 
Colonial  schooner  to  Grand  Bassa,  which  at  the  end  of  nine 
days,  returned  with  but  twenty  bushels  of  rice,  bought  at 
double  the  usual  price.  The  only  individual  who  could  act 
the  part  of  a  Physician,  was  the  Rev.  Lott  Gary,  whose  skill 
resulted  entirely  from  his  good  sense,  observation,  and  experi- 
ence.* 

All  these  evils  were  light  compared  with  those  which  the 
spirit  of  revolt  and  anarchy  threatened  to  bring  upon  the 
Colony.  Deficient  in  education,  and  ill  informed  on  many 
of  the  important  relations  and  duties  of  human  society,  daz- 
zled by  the  light,  and  misled  by  false  notions  of  freedom,  dis- 
appointed in  some  of  their  expectations,  and  tried  by  afflic- 
tion, a  few  individuals  still  continued  utterly  to  disregard  the 
authority  of  the  Agent  and  sought  to  persuade  others  to  imi- 
tate their  example. 

On  the  19th  of  March,  the  rations  were  reduced  one  half; 
as  it  was  found  that  so  diminished,  the  supplies  would  last 
not  more  than  five  weeks.  This  act  of  prudence  was  count- 
ed by  the  malecontents  an  act  of  oppression;  they  violently 
reproached  the  Agent  in  his  presence,  and  showed  in  the 
storm  of  their  passions,  that  the  assumption  of  the  right  of 
self-government  had  given,  them  no  mastery  over  themselves. 
On  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  March,  Mr.  Ashmun  assem- 
bled the  people  of  the  settlement,  and  made  to  them  in  sub- 
stance, mainly,  the  following  address: 

"There  is  a  mutual  contract  subsisting  between  the  Ame- 
{  rican  Colonization  Society  and  every  one  of  you.  By  this 
(  contract  you  are  bound  under  the  solemnity  of  an  oath  to 

*  March  llth. — "Astonishing,"  said  Mr.  Ashmun,  "that  in  this  atmosphere 
should  exist  causes  so  universal  in  their  operation,  as  amongst  all  the  varieties 
of  age,  sex,  and  habit,  not  to  leave  one  in  the  whole  number  without  disease, 
and  that  in  less  than  four  weeks:  And  stranger  still,  that  the  blast  should  be 
so  tempered  to  the  strength  of  the  constitution  of  every  individual,  as  only  to 
have  swept  off  three  small  children.  Men  may  call  these  phenomena  in  hu- 
man life,  the  effects  of  the  laws  of  nature;  I  choose  to  call  them  singular 
proofs  of  the  Providence  of  God  over  his  creatures." 


LIFE   OF   ASHMUN.  191 

{  certain  duties  to  the  Society — and  the  Society  stands  recip- 
c  rocally  pledged,  in  certain  engagements,  to  you.  Your 
'  obligations  are  fully  expressed  in  the  articles  of  the  Consti- 
1  tution — you  have  many  privileges  sacred  to  you  in  this  same 
<  Constitution— you  have  far  greater  in  reversion.  You 
1  swore  to  the  Society  that  you  would  obey  their  government 
1  and  not  attempt  to  overthrow  it,  but  lend  all  your  influence 
*  and  all  your  aid  to  support  it  entire.  And  you  acted  wise- 
'  ly.  Every  blessing  you  have  enjoyed  in  Africa,  the  security 
'  of  your  lives,  property  and  families,  is  the  consequence  of 
'  this  salutary  arrangement  by  which  an  efficient  government 
1  was  constituted,  and  this  security  has  always  been  in  pro- 
1  portion  to  the  constancy  and  fidelity  with  which  you  have 
1  obeyed  and  upheld  it. 

"Some  of  your  greatest  sufferings  have  resulted  from  your 
1  disrespect  to  the  Agents,  and  your  disobedience  of  the  or- 
1  ders  of  the  Society. 

"In  what  I  shall  now  say,  I  refer  only  to  those  who  have 
1  been  several  months  in  Africa. 

"Early  in  the  present  dry  season,  you  were  told  that  your 
1  supply  of  provisions  and  clothing  from  the  Public  Store, 
'  must  cease  on  the  5th  of  June  next.  The  term  was  seen 
1  and  acknowledged  to  be  liberal — you  were  surrounded  by 
1  fertile  lands — and  had  seven  months  of  pleasant  weather  in 
1  which  to  put  them  in  cultivation.  The  Agent  has  shown 
1  you  every  indulgence.  Not  one  day  in  a  month  has  been 
'  required  of  you  for  any  public  labour.  Provisions,  clothing 
1  and  tools  were  furnished.  The  Agent  has  given  you  his 
1  best  advice.  He  was  animated  with  hope,  and  confidently 
1  imparted  his  own  expectations  to  the  Society  at  home. 

"But  all  these  expectations  were  to  end  in  bitter  disappoint- 
'  ment.  Twelve  of  you  refused  to  concur  in  the  work. 

"Your  own  consciences  tell  you  with  what  earnestness 
*  and  fidelity  I  laboured  to  prevent  the  folly  and  mischief  of 
1  such  perversity.  I  advised,  explained,  and  even  entreated, 


192  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

'  for  I  was  your  friend  and  willing  by  any  mean  to  persuade 
1  you  to  consult  your  true  interest.  You  Twe;e  unmoved, 
{  and  retorted  insolence  to  my  condescension.  I  employed 
1  more  rigorous  measures.  You  seized  the  weapons  of  de- 
f  struction,  menaced  me  with  death,  and  laid  violent  hands 
*  on  stores,  which  your  perjured  conduct  had  made  it  unlaw- 
i  ful  for  me  to  distribute  among  you.  You  have  reproached, 
1  dissuaded  and  opposed  to  my  certain  knowledge  the  peacea- 
<  ble  and  orderly  settlers,  and  diverted  them  from  their  agri- 
1  cultural  pursuits. 

"I  told  you  that  your  neglect  of  duty  would  bring  on  your- 
{  selves  and  families  the  severest  sufferings  before  the  termi- 
i  nation  of  the  approaching  rainy  season;  and  the  warning 
1  is  now  beginning  to  be  realized.  Had  you  obeyed  the  Go- 
c  vernment  you  have  sworn  to  support,  every  man  of  you 
(  would  see  the  comforts  of  life  beginning  to  pour  into  his 
1  family. 

"But  you  have  nothing  in  possession.  You  have  nothing 
1  growing  in  your  fields.  You  have  nothing — no  not  a  week's 
1  supply  of  vegetables  in  prospect.  You  feel  the  pinching 
1  hand  of  want  to-day.  It  will  be  worse  to-morrow.  Con- 
1  tinue  to  neglect  your  duty,  and  it  will  either  disperse  you 
'  up  and  down  the  coast  or  destroy  you  by  starvation. 

"The  evil  remains.  This  very  morning  have  I  been  told 
i  to  my  face,  that  you  will  not  be  governed — that  instead  of 
'  labouring,  as  you  ought  to  raise  food,  you  would  obtain  it 
1  by  plunder. 

"There  sits  the  man  who  has  used  this  language.  You 
4  ask  for  provisions,  but  you  know  I  cannot  as  an  honest  man, 
1  furnish  provisions  to  support  you  in  idleness,  or  wilful  diso- 
{  bedience. 

"You  know  that  as  far  as  in  me  lies,  I  will  never  suffer 
'  another  barrel  of  provisions  to  enter  that  Store-House  if  lia- 
'  ble  to  be  taken  out  by  the  hand  of  plunder  and  violence. 
*  No !  the  authority  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  American 


?4 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.    ' 

1  Colonizatio  d  Society,  must  be  reinstated  in  all  1 

*  tion  on  this  tCape,  or  you  must  be  dispersed  and  perish.     I 
c  ask  you  to  take  no  new  oaths,  to  assume  no  new  obligations; 
1  but  here,  this  hour,  in  the  presence  of  that  God  who  has  re- 
'  corded  your  vows  in  Heaven,  to  recognize  them  and  pledge 
'  yourselves  to  a  future  observance  of  them.  I  will  act  no  longer 
1  the  shadow  of  authority.     It  is  egregious  folly  and  wick- 
c  edness,  and  will  ruin  you  all.     Either  sustain  the  authority 
<  of  the  Society  and  enable  it  to  fulfil  the  ends  of  the  Colony — 
1  or  mark  it  well,  the  Society  will  not  uphold  you  in  a. course 
c  which  must  conduct  you  to  ruin,  and  themselves  to  certain 
'  disappointment  and  disgrace. 

"I  require  every  well-disposed  man  to  give  me  the  pledge 
4 1  ask,  and  I  will  spare  no  pains  to  avert  the  impending  cala- 
{  mity.  I  believe  it  possible,  even  now,  to  devise  a  plan  of  in- 
1  dustry,  that  will  keep  this  people  together  through  the  ap- 

*  preaching  rains.     But  all  depends  on  your  concurrence." 

Most  of  the  settlers  tacitly  assented  to  the  truth  and  justice 
of  this  address,  and  Mr.  Ashmun  adopted  every  measure  in 
his  power  to  relieve  and  preserve  the  Colony.  But  the  Colo- 
nists afforded  him  no  vigorous  support.  The  spirit  of  disor- 
ganization was  at  work,  deranging  all  the  movements  of  Go- 
vernment. Mr.  Ashmun  had  some  months  before  declared 
to  the  Board,  that  in  his  opinion,  "the  evil  was  incurable  by 
any  of  the  remedies  which  fall  within  their  existing  provis- 
ions." He  now  prepared  and  forwarded  despatches*  contain- 
ing his  best  reflections  on  the  state  of  the  Colony,  and  the  in- 
creasing elements  of  turbulence  and  danger  threatening  its 
speedy  ruin. 

Since  the  departure  of  Dr.  Ayres,  he  had  heard  nothing 
from  the  Board  of  Managers.  He  perceived  that  his  conduct 
in  the  Colony  had  been  held  up  for  censure  in  one  of  the  pub- 
lic Journals  of  the  United  States.  The  stores  of  the  settle- 


*  See  Appendix  No.  5. 
25 


194  •   LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

ment  were  nearly  exhausted;  he  saw  that  the  least  detention 
of  the  Packet  beyond  her  time,  must  occasion  severe  suffer- 
ing, and  he  had  no  means  to  prevent  it.  He  attempted  to 
make  a  small  purchase  from  a  transient  vessel,  but  failed, 
having,  to  use  his  own  words,  "neither  funds,  produce,  nor 
credit." 

On  the  15th  of  March,  he  addressed  a  letter  totheBoard7 
expressing  a  desire  to  be  relieved  from  any  farther  duties  to 
the  Colony,  which  might  require  his  residence  in  Africa.  He 
declared,  that  just  emerging  from  the  period  of  youth,  he  was 
loaded  with  half  the  infirmities  of  drooping  age. 

"Next  after  the  approbation  of  God  and  conscience,"  he 
adds,  "I  own  that  I  have  been  ambitious,  in  the  humble  part 
c  which  I  have  acted  in  your  service,  to  deserve  and  receive 
<  that  of  the  Board  of  Managers  !  and  I  have  always  felt  con- 
1  fident,  of  the  essential  equity  of  their  decision,  when  all  the 
*  circumstances  under  which  I  acted  could  be  known  to  them. 
' 1  can  say  more:  You  would,  Gentlemen,  estimate  my  con- 
'  duct  with  more  indulgence,  than  I  dare  to  extend  to  myself. 
4  Without  any  canting  professions  of  extraordinary  modesty, 
'  which  I  know  I  never  possessed,  it  is  nevertheless  true,  that 
{ I  am  conscious  of  wanting  several  qualifications  which  an 
f  Agent  of  your  Board  ought  to  have;  and  have  often  been 
c  pained  for  your  sake,  and  the  Colony's,  that  I  was  not  a  wiser 
1  and  a  better  man.  In  reviewing  my  -services,  I  perceive 
c  many  things,  which  I  should  on  their  recurrence  the  sec- 
1  ond  time,  manage  differently;  but  no  egregious  blunders  or 
{  gross  neglects.  These  are,  however,  charged  upon  me,  in 
1  a  few  rash  assertions  of  a  letter  published  in  the  National 
*  Intelligencer,  of  1823;  which  I  saw  for  the  first  time  only 
{ two  days  ago.  Never  intending  to  publish  to  such  accusa- 
£  tions  a  newspaper  reply,  (which  commonly  savours  more  of 
1  a  desire  of  revenge,  than  an  honest  wish  to  explain  to  can- 
c  did  men,  misrepresented  facts,)  nor  willing  to  labour  in  the 
1  opinions  of  the  Board  under  the  imputations  referred  to,  I 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  195 

*  have  taken  the  middle  course  of  addressing,  for  your  peru- 
c  sal,  a  letter  to  the  author  of  those  accusations.  It  is  en- 
c  closed." 

He  now  determined  to  proceed  on  a  visit  (by  the  way  of 
Bissao,  a  Portuguese  settlement,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rio 
Grande,)  to  the  Cape  De  Verd  Islands.  "Government,"  he  ob- 
serves, "without  an  armed  force  had  become  impossible."  "I 
c  had  expended  all  my  strength  in  fruitless  attempts  to  restore 
f  industry  and  order,  and  found  myself  wasting  away  under 
1  a  complication  of  infirmities  and  complaints,  which  left  ex- 
{ istence  a  burden;  and  had  long  deprived  me  of  appetite, 
£  sleep,  and  all  bodily  and  mental  vigor."  A  sea- voyage  might 
restore  his  health;  but  should  he  remain  at  the  Cape,  he  could 
hardly  hope  to  survive  the  rainy  season.  Neither  the  state 
of  his  private  affairs,  nor  his  engagement  to  serve  the  Board 
until  relieved,  permitted  him  to  think  of  abandoning  the  coun- 
try. As  circumstances  were,  he  saw  not  that  he  could  do 
more,  than  a  provisional  Government,  for  the  Colony.  Until 
the  decision  of  the  Board  respecting  the  distribution  of  the 
lots  was  made  known,  he  was  unwilling  to  remain  as  Agent, 
without  power  to  carry  into  effect  a  system  of  industry  and 
other  measures  of  vital  importance.  Whether  he  would  ever 
return,  appeared  to  him  in  view  of  the  state  of  the  Colony,  and 
his  own  health,  a  matter  of  much  uncertainty.  All  the  pro- 
perty of  the  United  States,  the  Colonization  Society,  and  the 
Baltimore  Trading  Company,  together  with  the  books,  re- 
cords and  papers  of  the  establishment,  were  committed  to 
Elijah  Johnson  as  temporary  Agent,  with  instructions  as  to 
his  duties,  and  orders  to  account  for  all  articles  entrusted  to  him, 
to  any  properly  authorized  Agent  who  might  arrive  from  the 
United  States,  to  whom  also  he  'was  to  resign  the  power  with 
which  he  was  invested.  While  fatigued  in  making  arrange- 
ments for  hisdeparture,  "inventorying  the  property,  writinglet- 
ters,  gfid  disposing  of  some  hundred  applications,"  Mr.  Ash- 
mun  unfortunately  ruptured  an  artery,  which  had  been  in- 


196  LIFE    OF    ASH M UN. 

jured  in  a  bungling  attempt  to  extract  a  decayed  tooth,  and  a 
profuse  bleeding  commenced  that  nothing  would  stop.  Ad- 
vantage was  taken  of  his  helpless  state,  and  on  his  way  from 
the  house  to  the  vessel,  he  was  robbed  of  a  considerable  part 
of  the  little  stores  put  up  for  the  voyage,  and  of  other  proper- 
ty to  the  value  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars.*  He 
arrived  on  board  the  schooner  Reporter,  Captain  Preble,  from 
Portland,  bound  to  Goree,  at  4  o'clock  on  the  1st  of  April. 
The  bleeding  continued  during  the  night  and  the  next  day; 
all  applications  and  remedies  were  utterly  useless.  "I  be- 
gan," he  says,  "seriously  to  expect  the  termination  of  my 
poor  services,  vexations  and  life  during  the  next  night." — 
The  following  paper  was  left  at  the  Cape,  to  be  delivered  to 
his  successor  in  the  Agency: 

"J.  Ashmun  has  cheerfully  spent  on  this  Cape,  nearly  two 
1  of  the  best  years  of  his  life.  He  is  now  about  to  leave  it, 
1  probably  forever.  He  has  tried  to  do^  his  duty — detected 
1  himself  in  occasional  errors;  and  without  asking  or  expect- 
c  ing  any  recompense  from  his  fellow-men,  wishes  only  to 
4  avoid  the  hard  destiny  of  his  predecessors  in  the  Agency — 
1  the  curses  and  false  accusations  of  those  whom  it  has  been 
'  his  constant  aim  to  serve. 

"His  predecessors  have  been  accused  of  transmitting  false 
'  accounts  of  the  Colony,  to  the  Board.  J.  Ashmun  here 
*  leaves  it  on  record,  that  if  any  man  after  his  absence 
'  brings  this  accusation  against  himself,  that  man  is  a  slanderer 
1  and  a  liar. 

"My  predecessors  have  been  accused  of  applying  the  stores 
1  and  supplies  sent  for  the  people,  to  their  own  use.  I  further 
<  declare,  that  any  man  who  accuses  me,  of  using  the  public 
'  stores  farther  than  my  personal  necessities,  from  day  to  day 
'  required,  and  whoever  denies  me  to  have  defrayed  a  large 


*  Settlers  and  recaptured  Africans  were  mingled  together  on  this 
so  that  it  is  not  possible  to  say  who  had  the  chief  agency  in  the  business. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  197 

4  part  of  my  current  expenses  out  of  my  own  pocket, is  a  false 

*  accuser  and  a  slanderer. 

"My  predecessors  stand  accused,  in  their  absence,  of  having 
c  rioted  and  fattened  on  the  Society's  bounty;  and  consumed 
'  funds  which  were  contributed  for  the  comfort  of  the  Colo- 
t  nists.  Whoever  says,  after  my  absence,  that  for  all  my 
'  sacrifices,  labours  and  sufferings,  on  this  Cape,  I  have  re- 
'  ceived  one  farthing  of  emolument,  excepting  only  a  valuable 

*  present  of  clothing,  by  the  Oswego,  asserts  a  falsehood  which 
'  will  one  day  cover  him  with  shame. 

"Most  of  my  predecessors  have  been  accused  of  pinching 
1  the  people,  to  furnish  their  own  tables  and  wardrobes  with  an 
1  unseemly  and  disproportionate  abundance.  My  table,  when 
'  alone,  has  consisted  of  one  dish,  and  as  great  a  variety  of 
1  vegetables  as  I  could  procure.  When  favoured  with  compa- 
'  ny,  I  have  given  the  best  dinners  I  could  conveniently  pro- 
1  vide.  They  have  been  good  enough  for  us;  and  never  have 
c  made  the  dinner  of  a  Colonist  a  cabbage-leaf  the  less. 

"B.  J.  a  man  without  principle,  and  as  far  as  his  wit  lets 
(  him  go,  a  mischievous  calumniator,  has  accused  Agents  of 
1  selling  the  charitable  contributions  to  the  stores  of  the  Socie- 
'  ty,  for  African  produce,  and  converting  the  proceeds  to  their 
'  own  gain.  The  fear  of  the  pillory  only  restrained  the  fel- 
c  low's  slander.  Whoever  shall  connive,  at  the  repetition  of  it 
'  in  my  absence,  will  discover  a  degree  of  malignity  equal  to 
<  his,  and  a  degree  of  cowardice  which  J.  never  did;  for  he, 

*  Devil-like,  dared  to  belch  his  scandal  into  my  face. 

"I  have  been  blamed  for  trafficking  with  the  natives.  I  have 
c  done  so,  and  applied  more  than  the  profits  of  that  very  bar- 
1  ter  to  the  feeding  and  clothing  of  the  people.  I  have  sunk 
«  stock,  in  supplying  their  necessities,  and  do  not  believe  I 
1  shall  ever  be  reimbursed  by  the  Society,  or  from  any  other 
4  earthly  quarter.  Whoever  names  this  barter,  after  my  ab- 

*  sence,  except  to  my  advantage,  is  an  ingrate;  he  thrusts 

*  his  viper  sting  into  the  bosom  which  has  nourished  his  ex- 


198  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

1  istence.     To  the  galling  scourge  of  conscious  ingratitude,  I 
1  consign  him. 

"My  predecessors  have  been  accused  of  carrying  away  with 
'  them,  furniture,  and  a  variety  of  little  stores  and  moveables, 
'  which,  being  the  Society's  property,  were  intended  for  the 
c  use  of  the  Colony,  and  their  successors  in  the  Agency.  I 
c  shall  carry  away  nearly  all  my  private  property,  and  if  my 
(  health  and  convenience  require  them,  any  little  articles  of 
'  bedding,  table  furniture,  &c.  &c.  that  may  chance  to  be  on 

I  hand — always  observing  to  take  away  considerably  less  than 

I 1  originally  brought  into  the  Colony,  of  my  own  private 
1  supplies  of  these  things. 

"I  do  not  wish  to  be  remembered  at  all  after  I  am  gone. 
1  But  if  any  of  the  Colonists  do  me  that  honour,  as  it  is  unso- 
£  licited  and  gratuitous,  I  require  it  of  them,  as  they  must  an- 
f  swer  for  it  hereafter,  to  remember  with  me,  the  command 

*  of  the  Most  High,  'Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against 
f  thy  neighbour.'    And  I  respectfully  request  my  successors 
1  in  this  arduous  station,  to  preserve  this  paper;  and  if  any 

<  individuals  should  take  advantage  of  my  absence,  to  accuse 

<  me  in  any  of  the  foregoing  premises,  that  he  would  have 
c  the  justice  to  read  to  that  individual,  the  paragraph  which 
1  touches  the  case. 

"I  have  too  great  a  regard  for  the  respectable  members  of 
e  this  Colony,  to  be  willing  that  my  memory  should  suffer 

*  injuriously  in  their  estimation. 

"J.  ASHMUN." 


CHAPTER   X, 


Mr.  ASHMUN  had  now  sunk  to  the  lowest  point  of  his  de- 
pression. Varying  a  little  the  Prophet's  language,  he  might 
have  cried,  "All  the  bright  lights  of  Heaven  hast  thou  made 
dark  over  me,  thou  hast  covered  the  sun  with  a  cloud,  and 
the  moon  doth  not  give  her  light."  But  his  trust  was  in  Di- 
vine Wisdom  and  Power.  He  knew  that  nothing  could 
hide  him  from  the  eye,  nothing  remove  him  from  the  hand 
of  the  Almighty.  He  knew  that  it  is  when  he  can  rely  upon 
nothing  else,  that  the  Christian  depends  most  upon  God. — 
When  he  considered  his  remarkable  experience  of  the  Divine 
Mercy,  how  he  had  been  shielded  in  the  storm,  the  battle  and 
the  pestilence,  how  his  soul  had  repeatedly  escaped  as  a  bird 
from  the  snare  of  the  fowler,  it  was  impossible  for  him  to 
despair. 

Reduced  so  low  by  the  continued  loss  of  blood  for  twenty- 
eight  hours,  that  it  was  thought  he  could  not  survive  for  eight- 
hours  longer,  the  French  frigate  Hebe  (whose  officers  had  a 


200  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

month  before  enjoyed  the  hospitalities  of  the  Colony,)  provi- 
dentially hove  in  sight,  and  her  Surgeon  in  half  an  hour,  by 
mechanical  means,  completely  stopped  the  hemorrhage.  For 
several  days  he  could  scarcely  stand,  but  by  the  kindest  atten- 
tions on  the  part  of  Captain  Preble,  and  on  his  own  part  by 
strict  and  judicious  rules  of  living,  he  gradually  and  slowly 
recovered  his  strength  during  the  month  occupied  in  his 
passage.  We  here  insert,  condensed  somewhat,  the  informa- 
tion contained  in  his  Journal,  penned  on  his  voyage  at  Bis- 
sao,  and  at  the  Cape  De  Yerds.* 

"Our  passage  was  extremely  slow,  as  the  vessel  after  being 
1 twelve  days  out,  wa§  found  to  be  in  the  latitude  of  Cape 
1  Mount.  Jn  running  down  the  passage  (one  hundred  and 
{  fifty  miles)  between  the  Bissagos  Islands  on  the  South-west, 

*  and  the  mainland  on  the  North-east,  our  vessel  struck  on  a 

*  hard  sandy  bottom,  and  was,  with  difficulty,  set  afloat  again. 

*  The  following  statement  from  this  Journal,  may  he  useful  to  navigators 
on  the  African  coast: 

"The  tendency  of  the  great  body  of  the  waters  of  the  ocean  along  the  coast 
of  western  Africa,  is  naturally  South-eastward.  In  the  dry  season,  when  only 
a  daily  alternation  of  gentle  land  and  sea  breezes  fans  their  surface,  and  the 
sea  breeze  blows  from  a  quarter  commonly  a  little  North  of  West,  the  flux 
of  waters  obeying  this  tendency,  becomes  a  strong  South-easterly  current. — 
This  current  commences  in  December,  and  continues  acquiring  strength  till 
the  following  June.  Then  the  stiff  and  constant  S.  S.  W.  breeze  which  sets 
in  at  the  beginning  and  prevails  tllro d§h  the  rains,  gradually  alters,  and  by  the 
first  of  July  has  reversed  the  direction  of  the  current.  It  sets  to  the  North- 
westward, but  with  less  strength,  commonly,  than  it  had,  in  the  dry  months, 
in  the  opposite  direction.  From  Montserado  to  Cape  Mount,  this  latter  or 
dry  season  current,  sets  at  the  rate  of  three-quarters  of  a  knot;  at  Cape 
Mount  one  and  a  half;  at  Galhinas  a  half;  at  Cape  St.  Ann  one;  off  the  South- 
west point  of  St.  Ann  shoals  two  knots;  thence  to  the  Northern  point  of  the 
shoals,  decreasing  to  three-quarters;  thence  to  the  commencement  of  Rio 
Grande  shoals  a  half;  around  these  shoals  three-quarters;  and  on  to  the  North- 
ward as  high  as  Goree  half  a  knot.  Such  were  the  setting  and  drift  of  these 
currents,  in  the  month  of  April;  or  within  one  month  of  the  termination  of  the 
dry  season,  resulting  from  the  comparison  of  the  ship's  reckoning  with  our 
observed  latitudes." 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  201 

1  No  one  should  attempt  this  passage  without  a  Pilot.     The 
*  mercy  of  Providence  alone  saved  us. 

"The  approach  to  Bissao  was  to  me  delightfully  animating. 
'  An  expanse  of  beautiful  country,  cleared,  and  for  more  than 
'  seventy  years  under  cultivation,  scattered  over  with  a  count- 
1  less  number  of  palm,  cocoa,  and  other  fruit  trees,  first  sud- 
1  denly  opens  upon  the  view.  Soon  you  perceive  the  whole 
1  region  to  be  dotted  over  with  some  thousand  conical  ob- 
( jects,  which  as  you  approach  them,  are  discovered  to  be  the 
c  huts  of  the  Papels,  the  original  inhabitants  of  the  country. 
'  Four  beautifully  spreading  pulloms*  are  now  admired  in 
'  the  distance.  The  ramparts  of  the  Fort  soon  after  make 
'  their  appearance,  and  last  of  all  the  town. 

"Few  houses  are  more  than  a  single  story  high.  This  is  a 
'  point  rendered  necessary  by  the  prevalence  of  tornadoes  at 
1  particular  seasons  of  the  year,  and  the  vicinity  of  the  walls 
'  of  the  Fort  by  which  they  are  overlooked.  There  are  not 
'  four  white  people,  exclusive  of  the  military,  in  Bissao.  The 
'  negroes  and  mulattoes  from  the  Cape  De  Verd  Islands,  are 
£  much  superior  in  intelligence,  and  commonly  in  condition 
'  to  the  christianized  natives  of  Bissao. 

"The  Christian  town,  as  it  is  called,  is  situated  on  the  land 
c  side  of  the  Fort,  and  contains  about  fifteen  hundred  souls, 
c  descendants  of  the  native  Papels,  all  of  whom  are  baptized 
<  and  members  of  the  Catholic  Church.  They  build  their 
1  houses  of  the  same  materials  as  the  Papels,  but  of  a  larger 
'  size,  and  different  form — those  of  the  latter  being  circular, 
i  with  a  conical  roof;  those  of  the  Christians,  square  or  rec- 
1  tangular,  and  with  a  roof  of  inclined  planes.  The  walls  of 
1  both  are  of  sun-hardened  clay,  cut  into  oblong  cubes,  and 
'  the  roofs  of  thatch.  A  species  of  grass  having  a  stem  of 
1  three  feet  in  length,  is  used  for  the  purpose.  The  ceiling  is 
'  a  thick  floor  of  clay,  supported  by  rude  joists,  and  effectually 


A  large  tree  found  all  along  the  coast. 
26 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

'  secures  the  contents  of  the  cabin  from  fire,  to  which  the 
'  thatched  roofs  are  particularly  exposed. 

"The  Christian  population  are  said  to  retain  and  blend 
c  with  their  worship  many  (if  not  all)  the  superstitions  of  Pa- 
'  ganism.  They  have  adopted  something  of  the  European 
'  dress,  speak  a  corrupt  dialect  of  ^Portuguese,  but  surpass 
'  their  Pagan  countrymen  in  every  sort  of  unprincipled 
1  profligacy. 

"The  Fort  covers  more  than  two  acres,  has  fifty  guns,  is 
1  surrounded  by  a  fosse  from  thirty  to  fifty  feet  wide,  and 
1  twelve  deep,  and  is  one  of  the  finest  on  the  coast.  About 
'  three  hundred  men  belong  to  the  establishment,  convicts 
i  from  Lisbon  and  the  Cape  De  Yerds,  one  half  of  whom  are 
'  detached  to  Cacheo  and  Geba,  settlements  in  the  vicinity. 
1  There  are  two  buildings,  without  windows  or  floors,  devoted 
'  to  the  sick.  These  are  situated  at  a  small  distance  without 
'  the  Fort;  and  from  the  dirty,  neglected  and  most  wretched 
'  condition  of  the  sick,  (about  thirty)  may  be  regarded  as  the 
1  antechambers  of  the  grave,  rather  than  the  nurseries  of 
<  health.  The  astonishing  indifference  with  which  the  loss 
'  of  human  life  is  here  regarded,  is  the  necessary  effect  of 
1  that  depravity  of  morals  which  is  so  universal,  undoubtedly; 
1  but  it  has  its  origin  more  directly  in  the  practice  which  has 
'  so  long  been  familiar  to  the  inhabitants  of  trafficking  in  hu- 
'  man  flesh. 

"The  establishment  is  a  century  old,  has  derived  all  its  im- 
'  portance  from  the  slave  trade,  and  originated,  no  doubt, 
(  some  of  the  most  splendid  fortunes  of  Lisbon  and  Rio 
1  Janeiro. 

"Rice  is  cultivated  in  abundance,  but  chiefly  on  low  lands, 
(  which  require  ditching  and  diking  at  intervals  of  six  feet. 
(  The  trenches  are  seldom  without  water  even  in  the  dry  sea- 
'  son.  Both  the  straw  and  produce  are  enormous.  Only 
'  the  spade  is  used  in  tillage.  If  I  am  rightly  informed,  the 
'  returns  amount  to  more  than  one  hundred  bushels  to  the 
*  acre ! 


LIFE    OF    ASI-IMUN.  203 

"From  the  town  may  be  seen  at  the  distance  of  five  or  six 

<  leagues  to  the  South-west,  the  Island  of  Bulama.     Since 

<  the  English  sunk  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 

<  pounds  in  attempts  to  found  a  Colony  on  this  Island,  and 
'  failed,  through  mismanagement,  and  other  disasters,  the 
'  Island  remains  unappropriated.     It  is  eighteen  miles  long, 
1  has  no  inhabitants,  is  fertile,  well  watered,  and  excellently 
'  timbered.     The  Portuguese  are  now  cutting  timber  from 
*  it,  for  ships  of  war. 

"We  cast  anchor  at  Bissao  on  the  4th  of  May,  when  I  ad- 
'  dressed  a  letter  to  the  Governor,  stating  the  circumstances 
c  under  which  I  had  arrived,  and  desiring  permission  to  land 

<  and  take  measures  for  the  complete  restoration  of  my  health, 
'  without  being  subjected  to  any  of  the  restrictions  imposed 
1  on  foreign  traders  arriving  at  the  Port.     This  request  was 
1  politely  granted.     Several  airy   apartments  were  provided 
c  for  me,  and  I  was  hospitably  entertained  at  the  Governor's 

<  table  during  the  whole  time  (six  weeks)  of  my  stay.     The 
'  luxury  of  an  open  and  delightful  country  to  range  in,  my 
'  freedom  from  cares,  good  books,  and  a  little  intelligent  so- 
'  ciety  soon  revived  my  depressed  spirits,  and  perfected  the 
1  re-establishment  of  my  health  after  a  painful  confinement 
1  for  a  week  with  an  inflamed  foot  and  ankle,  excited  by  too 
1  much  exercise. 

"I  had  the  mortification  to  witness  the  despatch  of  two  ves- 
'  sels,  each  carrying  sixty  slaves  for  St.  Jago.  The  Governor 
1  owned  himself  interested  in  both,  but  attempted  to  excuse 
'  his  conduct  by  lamely  alleging  the  influence  of  a  foreign 
'  power  in  the.  counsels  of  Portugal,  and  that  measures  re- 
1  strictive  on  the  slave  trade,  were  as  odious  at  home,  as  in 
'  their  tendency  hostile  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Portuguese 
i  colonies. 

"I  took  leave  of  the  hospitable  Governor  on  the  16th  of 
'  June,  embarking  in  a  brig,  in  which  he  had  politely  offered 
1  me  a  passage  to  St.  Jago.  He  had  lost  an  estate  worth 


LIFE    OF    ASIIMUN. 

<  eighty  thousand  dollars  by  a  series  of  disastrous  adventures 
c  in  the  slave  trade,  his  supercargoes  and  consignees  having 
{ taken  advantage  of  the  law,  and  pocketed  the  proceeds  of  his 
'  cargoes. 

"On  the  22d,  wo  made  the  coast  six  leagues  South  of  Go- 
1  ree.  This  is  a  dependency  of  Fort  St.  Louis,  on  the  Sene- 
*  gal.  The  population  is  rated  at  thirty-five  hundred — the 
'  port,  free;  duties  moderate;  and  the  station  regarded  as  per- 
:  haps  the  healthiest  and  pleasantest  in  Western  Africa.  The 
'  natives  in  the  neighbourhood  of  all  the  French  settlements, 
'  are  said  to  be  more  advanced  towards  civilization  than  any 
'  other.  Head  winds  prevailed  during  the  whole  of  our  pas- 
'  sage,  so  that  we  did  not  make  the  Isle  of  May  before  the 
(  morning  of  the  4th  of  July,  when  a  good  Providence  saved 
c  us  from  running  upon  the  rocks,  all  hands  being  asleep 
'  until  the  roar  of  the  surf  became  deafning. 

"I  was  received  by  Mr.  Hodges,  the  American  Consul,  and 
£  his  amiable  lady,  with  great  politeness,  and  experienced 
1  from  both,  and  from  Mr.  Clark  the  British  resident,  and  his 

<  lady,  those  gratifying  attentions  which  a  stranger  in  Africa, 
1  is  perhaps,  of  all  others,  best  disposed  to  appreciate. 

"The  Cape  De  Verd  Islands,  nine  in  number,  were  dis- 
{  covered  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  soon 
1  settled  by  the  Portuguese.  The  population  is  estimated  at 

<  sixty  thousand,  mostly  a  mixed  race,  sprung  from  the  union 
1  of  the  Portuguese  and  natives.     The  Government  is  lodged 
c  in  the  hands  of  a  Governor  General,  and  Judge,  appointed 
1  by  the  Crown,  and  is  perfectly  despotic.     These  Islands 
•  serve  the  Portuguese  Government  as  a  place  of  exile,  for 
1  State  and  other  prisoners.     They  yield  to  the   Crown  a 
'  revenue  of  one  hundred  thousand  pounds,  by  the  monopoly 
{  of  the  Archilla,  a  dying  vegetable,  said  to  be  the  growth 

<  of  no  other  country.     It  is  the  basis  of  a  most  beautiful 
'  scarlet.    Porto    Praya,    the    residence  of   the  Governor, 

'  has  about  two  hundred  soldiers  from  Lisbon.     Several  of 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  205 

'  the  active  revolutionists  are  now  reaping,  on  this  burning 
1  spot,  ill  poverty  and  exile,  the  harvest  of  their  defeated  hopes 
1  and  disappointed  ambition." 

Here  Mr.  Ashmun  anxiously  awaited  intelligence,  both 
from  the  Colony  and  the  United  States.  He  recollected  that, 
according  to  previous  arrangements,  the  Baltimore  Packet, 
Fidelity,  was  to  have  visited  the  Colony  in  April,  and  thought 
it  probable  she  had  conveyed  thither  some  individual  to  suc- 
ceed him  in  the  Agency.  On  the  llth  of  July,  he  addressed 
a  letter  "To  the  Agent  of  the  American  Colonization  Society  at 
Cape  Montserado;"  in  which,  after  expressing  his  extreme 
anxiety  to  hear  from  the  settlement,  and  his  purpose,  if  not 
previously  relieved  by  the  Board,  to  return  thither  in  Octo- 
ber, among  other  things,  he  adds:  "At  the  present  time  I  am 
1  pleasing  myself  with  the  supposition,  that  the  Colonists  are 
c  mostly  on  their  own  resources,  and  are  diligently  and  suc- 
1  cessfully  cultivating  the  soil.  If  the  older  settlers  are  still 
1  receiving  rations  from  the  Society,  they  are  ruined,  and  the 

<  funds  of  the  Society  misapplied.     Of  the  one  and  the  other 
'  of  these  facts,  I  am  certain— and  fully  believe  that  nothing 
'  is  accomplished  towards  the  establishment  of  the  Colony, 
{ till  the  settlers  are  brought  to  subsist  themselves,  arid  very 
1  little,  indeed,  as  long  as  a  barrel  of  beef  and  flour  continues 
•'  to  be  imported,  of  necessity ',  from  America. 

"My  heart,  I  can  assure  you,  Sir,  is  much,  much  indeed 
c  with  the  Colony.  I  am  fully  resolved  not  to  return  to  the 
1  United  States,  without  first  re- visiting  the  settlement.  May 
1  I  find  the  people  orderly  and  industrious;  the  Agent  beloved, 

<  active,  enterprising,  healthy,  and  happy.     Expect,  Sir,  no 
'  reward  in  this  life.     It  is  a  service  replete  with  danger,  suf- 
*  ferings,  mortifications,  and  toil.     But  the  object,  Sir,  is  well 
1  worth  any  amount  of  individual  sufferings;  and  these  suffer- 
( ings  themselves  find  great  alleviations  in  the  present  reflec- 
( tions  of  an  honest  and  devoted  mind." 


206  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

In  the  retiredness  of  his  own  sad  thoughts,  on  this  rude 
spot,  (which  nature  convulsed,  seems  to  have  thrown  up 
from  her  fiery  depths,)  we  leave,  for  a  few  moments,  the  sub- 
ject of  our  Memoir,  to  relate  the  course  of  events  towards  him 
in  the  United  States. 

The  remonstrance  sent  home  by  some  of  the  Colonists,  and 
the  communications  of  Mr.  Ashmun,  describing  minutely 
the  disorders  and  disturbances  at  the  settlement,  had  con- 
vinced the  Board  that  immediate  and  strong  measures  were 
required  to  prevent  the  subversion  of  the  Colony,  and  the 
total  extinction  of  their  hopes.  They  could  not  remain  in- 
sensible to  the  honest,  lucid,  and  manly  style  in  which  their 
Agent  had  exposed  the  evils  of  indolence  and  disaffection;  the 
boldness  and  firmness  with  which  he  had  met  them,  or  the 
candor  shown  in  the  acknowledgment,  that  to  subdue  them 
was  beyond  his  power.  Whatever  might  be  his  general  me- 
rits, they  felt  that  he  was  entitled  to  a  recompense  for  his  ser- 
vices; and  that  while  invested  with  authority,  on  grounds  of 
expediency,  no  less  than  right,  he  ought  to  be  sustained. 

On  the  30th  of  March,  (but  a  day  or  two  before  he  left  the 
Colony)  they  acceded  to  the  proposition  submitted  in  his  let- 
ter by  Dr.  Ayres,  and  appropriated  five  hundred  dollars  for 
his  benefit;  and  at  the  same  time  sanctioned  a  reply  to  the 
remonstrants,  and  an  address  to  the  Colonists  generally,  ex- 
plaining the  benevolent  purposes  of  the  Society,  depicting 
vividly  the  ruin  impending  over  any  community  that  dared 
to  violate,  or  even  ceased  to  venerate  the  majesty  of  the  law, 
the  certain  destruction  to  follow  insubordination  in  a  feeble 
and  exposed  settlement,  and  enforcing  industry,  order,  and 
the  strict  performance  of  every  duty,  by  warnings,  appeals, 
motives  of  interest,  and  the  solemn  demands  of  religion.  They 
declared  that  the  Agents  must  be  obeyed,  or  the  Colony  aban- 
doned. They  asserted  their  determination  to  punish  offen- 
ders, while  they  assisted  the  obedient,  and  affectionately  en- 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  207 

couraged  all  the  sober  and  virtuous  to  maintain  the  peace, 
and  guard,  as  their  very  life,  the  authority  of  the  laws.* 

Hardly  had  these  documents  been  despatched,  before  let- 
ters were  received  from  the  Colony,  charging  Mr.  Ashmun 
with  oppression,  the  neglect  of  obvious  duties,  the  desertion 
of  his  post,  and  the  seizure  and  abduction  of  the  public  prop- 
erty. Currency  was  given  to  these  charges  by  officers  of  the' 
United  States'  Navy,  who  had  touched  at  Montserado  soon 
after  his  departure,  and  there  listened  to  the  rumors  of  the 
weak,  and  the  calumnies  of  the  wicked.  Conjecture  often 
feeds  suspicion;  nor  can  any  clear-sightedness  or  honesty 
enable  us  to  distinguish  the  true  features  of  character,  more 
than  of  the  face,  by  twilight.  Those  who  had  doubted  the 
integrity  of  Ashmun,  now  thought  it  certain  that  he  had 
none;  and  those  began  to  doubt  who  had  never  questioned  it 
before.  That  very  conduct  which  confers  honour  on  the 
good,  adds  to  the  disgrace  of  the  bad, — being  regarded  as  a 
garment  stolen,  to  cloak  iniquity.  Falsehood  had  thrown  a 
cloud  over  the  reputation  of  Ashmun,  and  within  its  shadow, 
truth  seemed  fiction,  and  fiction  truth. 

In  this  uncertain  and  alarming  state  of  affairs,  the  Mana- 
gers of  the  Society,  represented  strongly  to  the  Executive  of 
the  United  States,  the  importance  of  sending  an  armed 
vessel  to  the  Colony,  with  some  individual  duly  commission- 
ed, both  by  the  Government  and  Society,  to  examine  the  en- 
tire condition  of  the  Agency;  the  people;  and  the  property  of 
the  United  States  and  Society;  and  empowered  to  make  such 
temporary  arrangements  for  the  security  of  the  public  inter- 
ests and  the  Government  of  the  establishment,  as  upon  proper 
consideration,  circumstances  might,  in  his  judgment,  require. 

*  E.  B.  Caldwell,  Esq.  first  Secretary  of  the  Society,  though  in  feeble  health, 
shared  largely  in  the  preparation  of  these  papers,  which  bear  honourable 
testimony  to  his  energy,  zeal  and  piety.    The  effort  was  among  the  last  he ' 
was  permitted  to  make  in   a  cause  which  had  enlisted  the  best  and  strongest 
feelings  of  his  heart. 


208  LIFE    OF   ASHMUN. 

The  writer  was  deputed  to  perform  this  service,  and  late  in 
June,  1824,  he  embarked  at  Norfolk  in  the  United  States7 
armed  schooner  Porpoise,  Captain  Skinner,  for  the  coast  of 
Africa.  Habituated  to  suspect  the  soundness  of  opinions  has- 
tily formed;  to  regard,  never,  the  popular  voice  as  infallibly 
the  voice  of  God;  and  where  human  character  was  concerned, 
to  suspend  judgment  and  exercise  charity,  until  evidence 
compelled  conviction,  he  proceeded  on  this  mission,  resolved, 
if  possible,  to  discover  the  truth,  and  bring  it  forth  from  tho 
darkness  in  which  it  was  involved. 


CHAPTER    XL 


ON  the  evening  of  the  24th  of  July,  Mr.  Ashmun  came  on 
board  the  Porpoise,  which  had  then  just  dropped  anchor  in 
the  harbour  of  Porto  Praya.  There  was  that  in  his  presence 
and  aspect,  which  once  seen,  is  never  forgotten.  The  offi- 
cers of  the  ship  who  were  strangers  to  him,  felt  that  he  was 
an  extraordinary  man.  In  his  whole  appearance  were  blend- 
ed dignity  and  humility.  The  serene  light  of  reason,  of 
goodness,  of  meekness,  softened  the  stateliness  of  sorrow,  and 
threw  a  charm  on  the  grandeur  of  his  storm-shaken,  but  self- 
sustained  spirit.  His  soul  seemed  refreshed  by  tidings  from 
his  native  land,  and  his  social  affections  to  gush  forth,  pure  and 
simple,  as  those  of  childhood,  from  the  deeply  stirred  fountains 
of  his  heart.  His  remarks  on  the  Colony,  showed  an  exten- 
sive and  thorough  knowledge  of  its  interests,  and  the  tone 
and  manner  in  which  they  were  delivered,  left  it  hardly  pos- 
sible to  doubt  that  they  were  among  the  most  precious  ob- 


210  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

jects  of  his  affection.*  The  feelings  expressed  in  his  counte- 
nance were  particularly  observable,  varying,  as  less  or  more 
intense,  the  light  and  shade,  so  that  his  features,  as  was  said 
of  those  of  a  great  poet,  like  "a  beautiful  alabaster  vase,  were 
only  seen  to  perfection,  when  lighted  up  from  within." — 
Nothing  was  detected  betraying  a .  single  motive  or  purpose 
which  it  was  not  honour  to  avow;  and  the  recollection  that 
Satan  himself  is  sometimes  transformed  into  an  Angel  of 
light,  alone  could  guard  the  judgment  against  the  instant  ad- 
mission of  his  integrity. 

At  our  second  interview,  the  proceedings  of  the  Board  and 
Government  were  developed,  and  the  object  of  the  special 
mission  fully  explained.  He  was  told  what  representations 
of  his  conduct  had  been  received  from  the  Colony,  and  that 
confidence  in  his  character  and  administration  had  given  way 
before  the  corroding  power  of  suspicion,  and  the  multiplied 
insinuations  and  allegations,  directed  against  both.  "I  will 
1  accompany  you  to  the  Cape,"  said  he;  "my  long  and  familiar 
1  acquaintance  with  the  affairs  of  the  Colony  may  enable  me 

*  There  is  a  passage  in  the  writings  of  John  Woolman,  expressive  of  what 
I  should  have  supposed  from  this  interview,  had  been  the  experience  of  Ash- 
mun: 

"As  I  lived  under  the  cross,  and  simply  followed  the  openings  of  truth,  my 
mind,  from  day  to  day,  was  more  enlightened;  my  former  acquaintance  were 
left  to  judge  of  me  as  they  would,  for  I  found  it  safest  for  me  to  live  in  pri- 
vate, and  keep  these  things  sealed  up  in  my  own  breast.  While  I  silently 
ponder  on  that  change  wrought  in  me,  I  find  no  language  equal  to  it,  nor  any 
means  to  convey  to  another  a  clear  idea  of  it.  I  looked  upon  the  works  of 
QocLin  this  visible  creation,  and  an  awfulness  covered  me;  my  heart  was  ten- 
der and  often  contrite,  and  universal  love  to  my  fellow-creatures  increased  in 
me:  this  will  be  understood  by  such  as  have  trodden  in  the  same  path.  Some 
glances  of  realbeauty  maybe  seen  in  their  faces,  who  dwell  in  true  meekness. 

"There  is  a  harmony  in  the  sound  of  that  voice  to  which  Divine  love  gives 
utterance,  a,nd  some  appearance  of  right  order  ip  their  temper  and  conduct, 
whose  passions  are  regulated;  yet  all  these  do  not  fully  show  forth  that  in- 
ward life  to  such  who  have  not  felt  it;  but  this  white  stone  and  new  name,  is 
known  rightly  to  such  only  who  have  it." 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  211 

*  to  render  you  some  aid  in  effecting  the  arduous  duties  of 

*  your  mission;"  and  as  he  spoke,  you  marked  the  show  of  an 
unalterable  purpose  not  to  abandon  a  cause  for  which  he  had 
sacrificed  every  thing  but  life;  you  admired  the  elevation 
of  his  soul  above  all  selfish  considerations,  towering  like  an 
eagle  against  the  storm  and  the  thunder-cloud,  and  already 
catching  glimpses  of  the  purity  and  brightness  of  the  Heavens. 

But  his  moral  greatness  was  ordinarily  sober  and  grave, 
as  though  it  had  felt  unkindness,  been  touched  by  grief,  and 
stood  a  solitary  monument  amid  ruined  hopes. 

Accommodations  offered  by  Captain  Skinner  in  the  Por- 
poise, were  accepted  by  Mr.  Ashmun,  and  this  vessel  after  a 
visit  of  two  days  at  Sierra  Leone,  came  to  anchor  on  the  13th 
of  August,  off  Cape  Montserado.* 

During  this  voyage  of  three  weeks,  my  mind  was  constant- 
ly and  anxiously  engaged  in  acquiring  information  concern- 
ing the  Colony;  the  character  of  the  settlers;  the  difficulties  of 
their  situation;  the  past  measures  of  the  Government;  the  cau- 
ses of  present  evils  and  dissatisfaction;  and  especially  in  gath- 
ering from  free  and  full  conversations  with  Mr.  Ashmun,  ma- 
terials, which  with  those  to  be  acquired  by  subsequent  inves- 
tigations, might  enable  me  to  form  an  opinion  of  his  qualifi- 
cations for  the  Agency,  and  of  the  principles,  upon  which 
should  be  organized  a  new  system  of  Government,  adapted 
to  the  circumstances  of  the  people;  the  advancement  of  their 
permanent  prosperity,  and  to  their  preparation,  in  due  time,  for 

*  I  can  never  forget  the  aspect  and  manner  of  Mr.  Ashmun,  when  objection 
was  made  to  receiving  on  board  the  vessel  a  few  goods  which  appeared  to  con- 
stitute all  his  little  property.  I  was  requested  to  say  to  him,  that  the  goods 
could  not  be  taken.  I  found  him  standing  in  a  small  miserable  hut,  not  far 
from  the  residence  of  the  Consul,  engaged  in  packing  away  in  a  chest,  a  few 
articles  of  crockery  ware.  His  countenance  was  pale,  tranquil,  pensive,  as  of 
one  chastened  by  affliction,  yet  unforsaken  of  God.  His  reply  to  my  commu- 
nication, was  simply  and  without  the  least  expression  of  dissatisfaction:  "The 
articles  can  remain  and  be  forwarded  to  me  by  some  other  vessel."  If  I  mis- 
take not,  he  was  subsequently  permitted  to  take  them  with  him. 


212  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  self-government.  I  acknow- 
ledge that  I  felt  an  intense  desire  to  do  a  lasting  good,  to  aid  in 
establishing  over  that  community  regarded  as  containing  the 
elements  of  a  free,  a  Christian,  and  a  powerful  state,  a  Go- 
vernment, beneficent,  durable,  and  capable  of  an  expansion 
to  any  extent  required  by  the  enlargement  of  its  interests  or 
the  growth  of  its  population. 

My  favourable  impressions  of  Mr.  Ashmun's  character,  re- 
ceived at  our  first  interview,  were  deepened  by  each  succes- 
sive conversation,  inquiry,  and  reflection  on  our  passage;  nor 
should  I  have  hesitated  to  predict  confidently,  that  not  a  sha- 
dow of  evidence  existed,  to  substantiate  the  charges  that  had 
been  urged  against  him.  The  prediction  would  have  been 
verified.  There  was  no  evidence.  Not  a  man  in  the  Colony 
dared  to  accuse  him  of  an  unwise  or  an  unworthy  action. — 
Every  individual  of  the  least  standing,  was  examined,  person- 
ally by  me  on  the  subject;  and  the  result  was,  to  my  mind, 
moral  demonstration,  that  no  man  could  more  faithfully,  more 
disinterestedly,  more  resolutely,  have  fulfilled  the  duties  of 
his  station.  The  clouds  that  had  darkened  his  reputation, 
arose  from  the  low  grounds  of  ignorance  and  the  putrescent 
ingredients  of  malice,  and  the  light  of  an  investigation  that 
revealed  the  sources  of  their  origin,  dispelled  them  forever. 

During  the  absence  of  Mr.  Ashmun,  two  events  had  con- 
curred to  produce  a  decided  change  for  the  better,  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Colony.  The  stores  had  been  nearly  or  quite  consum- 
ed, before  the  arrival  of  the  Fidelity;  and  the  pressure  of 
want  had  proved  an  irresistible  argument  for  exertion:  while 
the  despatches  from  the  Society  received  by  that  vessel,  had 
softened,  if  not  subdued,  the  spirit  of  rebellion. 

In  the  state  of  the  Colony  at  that  time,  there  were  causes 
both  for  hope  and  fear.  The  general  health  and  cheerful- 
ness; the  improvements  and  defences;  the  morality  and  reli- 
gion; the  quiet  of  the  Sabbath;  the  Sunday  Schools,  one  of 
which  was  composed  of  native  children;  and  the  warm  grati- 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  213 

tude  expressed  towards  the  Board,  for  a  special  mission  in 
their  favour,  were  encouraging:  while  the  dissatisfaction 
with  the  decisions  of  the  Board;  the  protracted  debility  of  the 
emigrants  by  the  Cyrus;  the  want  of  medicines  and  a  Phy- 
sician; of  agricultural  utensils,  and  a4thousand  other  things 
that  minister  to  comfort  and  aid  industry;  and  above  all,  the 
feeble  and  relaxed  condition  of  the  Government,  showed,  that 
without  some  speedy  and  thorough  change,  there  would  re- 
main serious  grounds  for  apprehension. 

The  causes,  to  which  most  of  the  moral  disorders  of  the 
Colony  were  to  be  attributed,  as  specified  in  the  report  made 
on  my  return  to  the  Board,  were: 

First,  and  principally;  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  earliest  set- 
tlers with  the  decision  of  the  principal  Agent  in  regard  to  the 
distribution  of  the  town-lots. 

2d.  An  imbecility  traceable  to  the  former  habits  and  con- 
dition of  life,  of  many  of  the  settlers. 

3d.  The  turbulent  and  malicious  temper  of  two  or  three 
individuals. 

4th.  Jealousy  kindled  by  the  proceedings  of  a  commer- 
cial company  established  at  Baltimore,  for  the  prosecution  of 
the  African  trade. 

5th.  The  trials  and  hardships  incidental  to  the  founding 
of  a  Colony  on  a  remote  and  uncivilized  shore;  and 

6th.  The  deficiency  of  power  in  the  Government  to  meet 
exigencies,  to  restrain  the  first  tendencies  towards  insubordi- 
nation, and  enforce  the  authority  of  the  laws. 

To  these  should  perhaps  be  added,  a  distrust  of  the  disposi- 
tion or  ability  of  the  Society  to  afford  them  adequate  aid  and 
protection.  To  their  difficulties  and  privations,  they  could 
not  be  insensible;  while  few  considered  that  of  these,  to  an  ex- 
tent, they  were  themselves  the  authors,  and  that  in  some  de- 
gree, they  were  inseparable  from  the  nature  of  their  enter- 
prise. It  was  a  ready  argument,  which  even  the  ignorant 
could  understand;  "we  suffer:  if  the  Society  have  means 


214  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

1  and  does  not  apply  them  to  our  relief,  it  is  without  bene- 
'  volence;  if  it  have  not  means,  it  wants  power,  and  in  either 
1  case  is  unworthy  of  our  confidence."  The  presence  of  an 
individual  who  had  been  commissioned  to  visit  them,  exam- 
ine their  circumstances,  hear  their  complaints,  and  assure 
them  that  every  thing  possible  would  be  done  to  promote  their 
interests,  was  an  evidence  of  the  care  and  benevolence  of  the 
Society  which  none  were  able  wholly  to  resist. 

The  best  endeavours  of  Mr.  Ashmun  and  myself,  during 
the  eight  days  I  remained  on  the  Cape,  were  directed  to  re- 
lieve suffering,  satisfy  doubt,  remedy  discontent,  and  estab- 
lish an  efficient  Government,  founded  in  the  approbation  of 
the  people,  and  adaptable,  not  only  to  their  present,  but  fu- 
ture political  necessities.  Not  only  was  the  day  spent  in  la- 
bour, but  a  large  portion  of  the  night  in  watchful  medi- 
tation how  we  might  preserve  unquenched  those  sacred  fires 
beginning  to  sparkle  in  that  hitherto  dispairful  darkness,  and 
possessed,  we  knew,  of  a  kindling  power  (if  guarded  for  a  brief 
space  from  extinction),  to  change  to  cheerfulness  the  mourn- 
fulness  of  nature,  and  light  up  that  whole  land  with  their 
constellated  glory. 

No  subject  was  left  unconsidered  that  required  attention. 
Regulations  were  adopted  for  the  benefit  of  widows,  orphans, 
the  infirm  and  the  helpless.  The  requests  of  individuals,  as 
well  as  the  public  wants,  were  noted,  that  they  might  be 
made  known  to  the  Managers  of  the  Society.  The  Consti- 
tution of  Government  agreed  on,  while  it  took  nothing  from 
the  power  of  the  Society  in  cases  of  final  resort,  admitted  of 
a  full  expression,  on  public  measures,  of  the  opinions  of  the 
settlers,  and  gave  them  a  large  share  in  the  management  of 
political  affairs.* 

*  At  first,  Mr.  Ashmun  appeared  to  doubt  the  qualifications  of  the  settlers 
for  any  share  in  the  concerns  of  Government,  and  urged  very  strongly,  that  in 
case  they  were  admitted  to  a  share,  the  Agent  should  have  the  control  of  a 
small  military  guard.  He  could  hardly  hope  for  so  great  and  beneficial  a 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  215 

All  the  decisions  of  the  Agents,  with  the  plan  of  Govern- 
ment they  had  resolved  to  recommend  to  the  Society,  were 
read  and  explained  to  the  assembled  Colonists,  who  expressed 
their  approbation  and  fixed  purpose  to  sustain  both,  (should 
they  receive  the  sanction  of  the  Board,)  without  a  dissenting 
voice.*  Beneath  the  thatched  roof  of  the  first  rude  house  for 
Divine  worship,  ever  erected  in  the  Colony,  stood  the  little 
company  of  one  hundred  coloured  emigrants,  who  had  ad- 
ventured all  things,  to  gain  for  themselves  and  children,  a 
home  and  inheritance  of  liberty;  and  before  God-  pledged 
themselves  to  maintain  the  Constitution  of  their  choice,  and 
prove  faithful  to  the  great  trust  committed  to  their  hands.t 

Mutual  confidence  was  now  restored  between  the  people 
and  the  Agent;  the  people  and  the  Society;  and  the  hope  was 
indulged,  that  a  full  and  candid  representation  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  Mr.  Ashmun,  would  dispel  from  the  minds  of  the 
Managers,  every  doubt  of  his  integrity  and  ability.  Shall  I 
ever  forget  the  joyous  hour  when  standing  by  the  side  of  this 
man  of  God,  in  whose  features  an  almost  Divine  meekness 
and  charity  softened  magnanimity  into  love,  I  saw  the  de- 
light with  which  he  beheld  the  desponding  encouraged;  the 

change  as  Providence  now  designed  to  accomplish.  I  thought  the  guard 
inexpedient,  and  that  it  would  not  be  sustained.  In  deference  to  his  judgment 
and  experience,  however,  it  was  established;  but  in  a  short  time  was  con- 
sidered by  himself  unnecessary  and  disbanded.  Mr.  Ashmun  lived  to  observe 
the  excellence  of  authority  "extending  more  over  the  wills  of  men  than  over 
their  deeds  and  services;"  and  even  then  he  approved  all  the  measures  adopt- 
ed, whatever  shades  cf  difference  existed  between  us  in  regard  to  their  proba- 
ble result.  Governors  and  Lawgivers  would  do  well  to  remember  the  obser- 
vation of  Bacon— "When  Virgil  putteth  himself  forth  to  attribute  to  Augus- 
tus Caesar,  the  best  of  human  honours,  he  doth  it  in  these  words  : 

Victorque  Voientes 

Per  populos  dat  jura,  Viamque  affectat  Olympo." 

*  Many  of  the  settlers  who  had  been  receiving  rations,  offered  from  that 
day,  to  support  themselves;  and  a  noble  public  spirit,  appeared  to  animate 
nearly  the  whole  community. 

t  Appendix  No.  6. 


216  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

weak  resolute;  order  rising  out  of  confusion,  and  the  whole 
state  of  affairs  assuming  a  new  aspect  of  peace,  industry,  hope 
and  obedience.  Having  empowered  him  to  fulfil  the  duties 
of  Agent,  both  of  the  Government  and  Society,  until  able  to 
Report  to  them  my  proceedings,  on  the  22d  of  August,  I  grasped 
his  hand,  and  bade  him  farewell,  at  the  landing  place  of  Mon- 
rovia, never  more  to  see  him,  but  on  his  death-bed,  the  scene 
of  his  last  and  greatest  triumph. 


CHAPTER   XII. 


A  reluctance1  to  admit  evidence  proving  error  in  our 
•opinions,  (especially  if  such  error  have  gained  strength 
by  time  and  struck  its  roots  deep  into  many  minds,) 
is  one  of  the  infirmities  of  our  nature.  The  mind,  like  the 
body,  seems  averse  to  sudden  changes;  it  would  escape  the 
sense  of  its  own  weakness;  and  is  ready,  often,  to  prefer  con- 
sistency to  truth.  We  are  so  vain  of  our  imagined  indepen- 
dence, that  in  the  company  of  Truth  herself,  we  would  lead, 
not  follow,  treating  her  as  a  handmaid,  rather  than  a  royal  mis- 
tress, clad  in  the  majestic  robes  of  Heaven,  to  whom  Kings  may 
honourably  bow,  since  over  the  Angels  of  God  she  holds 
rightful  empire.  Those  who  would  promote  her  cause,  must 
remember,  that  her  throne  is  set  up  not  more  in  the  under- 
standing than  the  affections;  that  she  rules  the  conduct  but  as 
she  sways  the  heart.  The  will  bends  less  to  authority  than 

28 


218 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


love;  and  would  appear  self-moved,  rather  than  forced.*  The 
judgment  that  resists,  for  a  moment,  any  power  of  evidence 
or  argument,  may  yield,  as  of  its  own  accord,  to  their 
continued  influence.  The  Divine  economy  in  the  spiritual, 
is  like,  in  an  important  sense,  to  that  in  the  natural  world; 
since  God  himself  encourages  us  to  wait  for  the  good  seed 
of  truth  to  ripen,  "as  the  husbandman  waiteth  for  the  pre- 
cious fruit  of  the  earth,  and  hath  long  patience  for  it  until 
he  receive  the  early  and  the  latter  rain." 

The  proceedings,  during  the  visit  of  the  writer  to  the  Co- 
lony, submitted,  on  his  return  from  Africa,  to  the  Managers  of 
the  Society,  received,  at  first,  in  no  one  important  particular, 
their  approbation.  The  Committee  to  whom  these  proceed- 
ings were  referred,  arranged  them  in  their  Report,  under  six 
heads;  upon  each,  they  pronounced  an  unfavourable  judg- 
ment; and  this  Report,  adopted  by  the  Board,  was  transmit- 
ted to  Mr.  Ashmun.t 

Anxious  as  were  the  Managers  to  promote  the  best  inter- 
ests of  the  Colony,  they  were,  as  yet,  unable  to  discern  satis- 
factory reasons  for  entire  confidence  in  Mr.  Ashmun;  and  the 
doubts,  which  from  this  or  other  circumstances,  had  arisen 
in  regard  to  the  new  measures  approved  by  him,  gained 
strength  (in  some  measure,  at  least,)  from  the  statements  and 
opinions  of  his  predecessor  in  the  Agency.  While,  however, 
the  Board  gave  no  sanction  to  the  new  form  of  Government, 
yet,  "such  parts  as  could  not  well  be  dispensed  with,"  as  an 
"experiment  of  the  Agent,"  they  permitted  to  be  tried. 

Inquiries  were  now  made  for  a  person  qualified  to  combine 
in  himself,  the  offices  of  principal  Agent  and  Surgeon  to  the 

*  Now  for  me, 

Right  conduct  has  a  value  of  its  own; 
The  happiness  my  King  might  cause  me  plant, 
I  would  myself  produce  ;  and  conscious  joy, 
And  free  selection,  not  the  force  of  duty, 
Should  impel  me  SCHILLER. 

f  Appendix  No.  7. 


LIFE. OP    ASHMUN.  219 

Colony;  and  on  the  12th  of  January,  1825,  a  respectable  in- 
dividual was  appointed  to  the  station. 

But  the  time  drew  near  when  that  Divine  Providence 
which  rules  no  less  in  human  counsels,  than  in  the  opera- 
tions of  nature,  was  by  events  that  none  could  gainsay  or  re- 
sist, to  demonstrate  to  the  Managers  the  policy  required,  es- 
tablish order  and  good  government  in  the  Colony,  and  bring 
out  into  unclouded  light,  the  character  of  Ashmun. 

On  the  16th  of  March,  communications  bearing  date  up  to 
the  15th  of  December,  were  received  by  the  Board,  affording 
conclusive  evidence  of  the  zeal,  industry,  and  ability  of  Mr. 
Ashmun,  as  well  as  of  the  extraordinary  and  most  beneficial 
changes  wrought  within  a  very  brief  period  in  the  whole  con- 
dition and  prospects  of  the  Colony. 

After  expressing  his  regret,  that  for  the  unusually  long  pe- 
riod of  five  months,  no  conveyance  had  offered  for  a  single 
letter  to  the  Society,  he  remarks:  "The  communications 

*  enclosed,  are  necessarily  voluminous:    but  not  more  so  than 

<  the  actual  state  of  the  Colony,  and  its  most  interesting  his- 

<  tory  for  the  last  half  year,  seems  to  demand.     After  the  se- 
1  vere  struggles,  reiterated  disappointments,  and  nameless 
6  evils,  which  for  so  many  years  had  filled  the  annals  of  the 
c  establishment — to  see  the  whole  course  of  thfngs  suddenly 

<  reversed — an  horizon  without  a  cloud,  and  unmingled,  un- 
1  interrupted  prosperity,  such  as  perhaps  never  before  marked 
1  the  early  progress  of  a  similar  settlement;  our  distinguished 

*  lot,  may  well  excite  in  an  individual  situated  as  I  am,  and 
c  have  been,  feelings  but  little  compatible  with  the  coolness 

*  which  ought  to  dictate  an  official  despatch.     I  am  sensible, 
6  too,  that  the  most  dispassionate  statement  of  facts  (for  I  have 

*  none  to  communicate,  which  will  much  shade  the  brightest 

<  colours  of  the  piece,)  cannot  wholly  escape  the  suspicion  of 
'  a  studied  flattery  of  the  picture.     But  He  who  knows  all 
1  things,  knows  that  I  intend  neither  to  overrate  the  actual 
1  measure  of  His  distinguished  mercies,  nor  to  suppress  any 


220 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 


'  adverse  circumstances  with  which  He  has  chosen  to  temper 
1  them.  My  private  sentiments  are  my  own,  the  facts  are  due 
'  to  the  friends  of  the  cause." 

Having  alluded  to  the  ungovernable  spirit  which  had  con- 
tinued to  rage  even  after  his  departure  from  the  Cape,  he 
continues:  "The  communications  of  the  Board,  at  this  criti- 
1  cal  moment,  came  to  hand.  The  measures  enjoined  the 
(  Agent  to  take,  and  the  searching  language  of  the  Society's 
(  address,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  wrought  upon  their  minds 
1  with  a  force  utterly  resistless.  They  saw  in  their  actual 
'  distress,  some  of  the  most  appalling  predictions  of  this  paper, 

*  either  fulfilling  or  actually  fulfilled.     The  most  contentious 
(  and  clamorous  covered  their  heads  with  self-conviction  and 
1  shame — and  astonishing  as  it  may  seem,  their  mouths  have 
1  never  since  been  opened  on  those  topics.    They  were  thus 

*  prepared  to  acquiesce  in  any  measuTes  the  Board  might 

*  prescribe,  and  to  expect  the  return  of  their  Agent  or  the  ar- 

*  rival  of  any  Agent  with  ungovernable  impatience." 

Having  mentioned  the  good  conduct  of  emigrants  by  the 
Cyrus,  he  proceeds:  "The  welcome  given  to  Mr.  Gurley 
{  and  myself,  I  at  first  treated  as  insincere;  but  however  ex- 
'  travagant  in  expression,  I  am  now  convinced  that  it  was 
1  dictated  by  the  heart. 

"The  official  decisions  communicated  to  them,  along  with 

*  the  new  modification  of  the  Government,  were  received 

*  with  an  unanimity  of  acquiescence,  which  I  confess,  was 
1  painful  to  me.  I  feared  either  that  they  could  not  understand 

*  them,  or  thought  opposition,  at  that  moment,  unseasonable. 

<  But  the  event  has  proved  my  fears  unfounded;  and  I  now 
1  consider  myself  authorized  to  state,  that  there  is  an  enlight- 
'  ened  and  growing  attachment  rooted  in  the  bosoms  of  the 
1  great  body  of  the  people  to  their  laws,  their  officers,  and 

<  the  authority  of  the  Society. 

"The  participation  of  the  Magistrates  and  Council  in  the 

*  deliberations  of  the  Agent,  and  the  administration  of  justice, 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  221 

*  has  tended  chiefly  to  form  the  individual  officers  themselves, 

<  to  a  modesty  of  deportment  and  opinion,  which  they  never 

<  manifested  before;  and  to  secure  to  the  Government  the 
1  united  support  of  the  people.     Our  laws  and  temporary 
'  regulations  are  multiplied  with  a  most  cautious  regard  to  the 
'  exigencies  to  be  provided  for;  but  once  established,  they  are 
'  conscientiously  carried  into  complete  effect.  I  witness,  with 
1  the  highest  pleasure,  an  increasing  sense  of  the  sacredness  of 
1  Law — and  as  far  as  I  know,  the  feeling  is  universal.     The 
'  system  of  Government  has  proved  itself  practicable.     It  dis- 

*  tributes  to  the  requisite  number  of  officers,  without  too 
1  much  accumulating  on  a  few,  or  giving  occasion  to  inter- 

*  ference  or  confusion,  the  duties  required  by  the  public 
1  service.     The  Agent  has  adopted  the  rule  never  to  inter- 
'  pose  his  authority,  where  that  of  the  proper  officer  of  the 
1  Government,  however  inferior,  is  adequate  to  the  emergen- 
1  cy.     Every  officer  thus  finding  his  sphere  of  official  duty 

<  left  sacredly  to  himself,  and  knowing  that  he  will  be  sup- 
c  ported  in  the  vindication  and  exercise  of  his  official  pow- 
1  ers,  comes  deeply  to  feel  his  individual  responsibility — 
1  spares  no  pains  to  qualify  himself  for  his  station,  freely  ap- 
'  plies  for,  and  thankfully  receives,  advice  and  instruction; 

*  and  pays  the  most  conscientious  regard  to  the  province 
1  and  rights  of  all  the  other  officers  of  Government." 

Near  the  close  of  the  same  letter,  he  speaks  of  a  remarka- 
ble attention  to  religion,  in  the  following  terms.  "But  the 

*  richest  blessing  of  all,  remains  to  be  acknowledged — a 

<  blessing,  without  which,  I  venture  to^ay5|the  complexion  of 
'  this  paper  would  have  been  materially  different. 

"It  has  pleased  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
4  Christ,  inUhe  sovereignty  of  His  mercy,  to  visit  the  Colony 
1  with  an  abundant  effusion  of  His  Holy  Spirit.  This  great 

*  event,  an  era  in  the  history  of  the  settlement,  which  has 

*  been  marked  in  Heaven,  and  will  long  be  celebrated  by  its 

*  witnesses  and  monuments  on  earth,  occurred  in  all  the  month 


222  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

:  of  September.  About  the  middle  of  that  mouth,  were  wit- 
1  nessed  the  first  appearances,  which*  gave  evidence  of  the 
1  holy  work.  I  feel  that  this  is  a  theme  to  which  a  mortal 
(  pen  ought  to  be*approached  with  awful  caution. 

"But  about  thirty  of  our  Colonists,  of  all  ages  and  charac- 
1  ters,  indiscriminately,  have,  as  the  fruits  of  the  work,  pub- 
1  licly  professed  their  faith  in  the  Redeemer.     They  have, 
{  so  far,  walked  as  the  truly  regenerate  children  of  God.     A 
{  change  in  their  deportment  and  in  their  whole  character, 
'  is  as  obvious,  as  would  be  their  transformation  to  another 
{  order  of  being.     From  lovers  of  sin  and  the  world,  they 
1  have  become  the  lovers  of  God  and  of  His  people.     Bad 
{  husbands,  wives,  children,  and  subjects,  are  changed  to  af- 
(  feetionate  relatives,  industrious,  sober,  and  useful  citizens. 
'  As  far  as  mortal  instrumentality  was  concerned  in  this 
4  blessed  work,  it  was  exerted  by  silent,  humble  supplications 
{ to  Almighty  God,  a  holy  deportment  of  Christian  professors, 
£  and  a  plain,  simple,  and  serious  inculcation  of  the  saving 
1  doctrines  of  Christ  and  His  Apostles.     I  congratulate  every 
1  Christian  and  devout  friend  of  this  establishment,  on  this 
<  signal  answer  to  their  prayers  and  crown  of  their  precious 
1  hopes:  Rejoice;  your,  labour  is  not  in  vain: — put  all  these 
1  astonishing  blessings  tog-ether,  and  in  the  humble  exulta- 
« tion  of  your  hearts,  exclaim,  the  mighty  God  is  our  helper. 
{  You  know  how  to  appreciate  and  how  to  interpret  spiritual 
1  blessings.     By  many  this  precious  dispensation  of  Provi- 
1  dence,  must  be  regarded  as  of  little  importance.     But  poor 
'  Africa  will  think  otherwise;  and  to  the  days  of  eternity,  a 
1  countless  host  of  her  children  will  look  back  and  date  from 
1  it,  the  first  effectual  dawning  of  that  heavenly  light,  which 
(  shall  at  length  have  conducted  them  to  the  Fold  and  the 
'City  of  God." 

The  same  despatches  informed  the  Board  of  the  progress 
made  in  public  improvements;  that  nearly  every  proprietor 
of  land,  single  women  not  excepted,  had  a  dwelling  well  ad- 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  223 

vanced;  that  several  roads  had  been  cleared  and  opened;  that 
a  stone  pier  one  hundred  feet  in  length  had  been  constructed 
in  the  river;  that  something  important  had  been  done  for 
agriculture;  that  several  schools,  one  for  native  children, 
were  in  operation;  that  two  commodious  houses  for  worship 
were  building;  and  that  the  organization  of  the  Colonial  Mi- 
litia (among  which  was  a  volunteer  corps  of  young  men  in  a 
neat  uniform),  had  added  to  the  strength  and  safety  of  the 
Colony. 

The  details  of  negotiations  entered  into,  and  happily  con- 
cluded, by  the  Agent  with  the  principal  Chiefs  in  the  vici- 
ni^  as  far  as  Grand  Bassa,  securing  a  free  trade  with  the 
natives  of  the  coast  and  interior,  were  at  the  same  time  re- 
ceived. Between  the  Agent  and  these  Chiefs  in  behalf  of 
those  respectively  represented  by  them,  it  was  agreed,  that 
they  should  live  in  perpetual  peace;  that  trade,  without  fraud 
or  interruption,  in  any  goods  and  productions  to  be  disposed 
of  in  the  Colony,  should  continue;  that  no  impediments 
should  be  thrown  in  the  way  of  any  other  people  who  might 
desire  to  trade  with  the  settlement;  that  the  Kings  should 
surrender  to  the  Agent  any  evil  disposed  person  who  sought 
to  injure  the  Colony,  to  be  punished  by  the  Colonial  Govern- 
ment; and  that  the  Agent  should  give  notice  to  the  Chiefs 
of  any  unfriendly  or  malicious  designs  of  which  he  might  be 
informed,  against  them. 

The  abilities  of  Mr.  Ashmun  were  seen  less,  perhaps,  in 
what  had  been  done  since  the  reorganization  of  the  Govern- 
ment, than  in  the  papers  submitted  to  the  Board  on  a  great 
variety  of  topics,  relating  to  the  future  administration  and  in- 
terests of  the  Colony.*  These  papers  showed  that,  while  he 

*  The  following  is  a  list  of  these  papers : 
Notes  introductory  to  the  Colonial  Journal,    2  sheets. 
Transcript  of  do  do          7     " 

Letter  to  the  Executive  Committee,  7     " 

The  Liberian  farmer  and  letter  accompanying,  13     " 


224  LIFE    OF    ASHMUW. 

could  grasp  large  objects,  he  was  not  inattentive  to  minute; 
that  he  was  not  unfitted  for  ordinary  business,  because  he  had 
the  talents  of  a  Statesman. 

The  Committee  of  the  Board  to  whom  these  despatches 
were  referred,  reported  on  the  28th  of  March — that  in  their 
opinion,  Mr.  Ashmun  "had  shown  great  attention  to  the  im- 
portant charge  committed  to  him;"  had  conducted  himself 
with  "much  prudence  and  propriety,  generally;"  and  recom- 
mended an  expression  of  the  cordial  approbation  of  the  Mana- 
gers of  the  Society.  They  .also  moved  resolutions  to  dimm- 
ish, by  certain  restrictions,  (as  suggested  by  Mr.  Ashmun) 
the  trade  in  ardent  spirits,  and  for  modifying,  as  he  proposed 
the  plan  of  public  labour;  and  their  entire  Report  received 
the  sanction  of  the  Board.* 

Perspective  view  of  the  Cape,  1  sheet. 

Notes  on  the  defence  of  the  Colony,  1     " 

Copy  of  my  account  current  to  the  Navy  De- 
partment, 3     " 

Remarks  on  the  Agent's  domestic  establish- 
ment, 2     " 

Draft  of  a  storehouse  built,  1     " 

Proposition  relative  to  public  labour,  1     " 

Do  relative  to  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  1     " 

Copy  of  Rev.  Mr.  Waring's  tour  to  Bassa,      2     " 

Estimates  of  future  supplies,  and  proposition 

relative  to  a  freight  of  plaiik,  1     " 

Best  method  of  subsisting  the  Colony,  2     " 

Notes  on  the  extent  of  Territory,  1     " 

Inventory  of  goods,  1     " 

Rough  map  of  the  const,  1     " 

*  In  the  earliest  years  of  the  Colony,  emigrants,  while  receiving  rations' 
from  the  public  store,  were  required  to  devote  two  days  in  the  week  to  labour, 
on  the  public  works.  The  labourers  having  no  motive  of  reward,  were  ineffi- 
cient; while  they  found  their  duty  to  the  public  an  excuse  for  negligence  in 
constructing  their  houses  and  cultivating  their  grounds.  The  following  plan, 
proposed  by  Mr.  Ashmun,  has  been  productive  of  far  "better  effects: 

"1st.  All  invalids  not  twelve  months  in  the  Colony,  and  such  others  as 
must  otherwise  suffer,  to  receive  rations  if  they  have  not  resources  of  their 


V* 

LIFE    OF   ASHMUN.  \\*  225 

Truth  had  begun  to  shake  the  fortresses  of  error  which 
had  risen  against  Ashmun,  and  no  less  against  the  Colony  Tie 
had  preserved;  and  an  accurate  observer  of  Providence,  her 
constant  and  mighty  ally,  might  have  seen  hung  out,  the 
prophetic  signals  of  a,  speedy  triumph.  There  was  bright 
light  in  the  clouds,  though  then,  from  most  eyes  concealed.* 

Mr.  Ashmun  understood  both  the  advantages  and  difficul- 
ties of  his  situation.  He  took  a  comprehensive  view  of  his 
duties,  saw  clearly  their  mutual  relations  and  the  reciprocal 
influence  which  well  discharged,  they  would  exert  upon  the 
success  of  each  other;  and  upon  his  general  usefulness.  If 
the  irrevocable  loss  of  reputation  would  injure  himself  only, 
it  might  be  endured  in  silence.  But  he  knew  that  he  had 
not  the  right, — and  more,  that  it  would  be  highly  criminal  to 
permit  this  treasure  to  be  sacrificed  when  power  was  granted 
to  preserve  it.  It  was  the  gift  of  Heaven;  in  the  service  of 
1  mankind  he  felt  bound  to  use  it;  and  thus  offer  it  acceptably 
in  tribute  to  the  Divine  Majesty. 

Aware,  however,  that  most  men  judge  of  merit  only  by 
success, — that  wisdom  in  defeat  is  counted  folly,  and  that  he 
who  blunders  into  prosperity  gains  the  credit  of  wisdom,  he 
trusted  in  the  Most  High,  who  often  dashes  to  ruin  the  coun- 
sels of  Ambition,  and  exalts  Humility  to  distinction  and 
power. 

We  may  notice,  briefly,  his  conduct  and  proceedings  at  this 
period;  first,  in  respect  to  himself;  second,  to  the  Colony;  and 
third,  to  the  Board  of  Managers. 

"2d.  Emigrants  not  to  be  taxed  with  public  labour,  in  consideration  of 
any  benefit  or  provision  to  be  derived  from  the  Society,  in  the  first  six  months 
of  their  residence.  But  at  the  end  of  this  term,  they  are  to  pay  for  all  they 
receive. 

"3d.  Provisions,  stuffs,  shoes,  clothing,  and  tobacco,  to  be  held  on  sale; 
but  only  for  the  present  consumption  of  the  buyers;  for  which  all  sorts  of  la- 
bour will  be  taken — a  preference  always  to  be  given  to  such  labourers  and  me- 
chanics as  are  less  than  eighteen  months  in  the  Colony." 

*  Job  xxxvii,  21. 
29 


226 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


To  himself,  the  motives  and  principles  which  governed 
him,  we  allude  first,  because  these  must  be  regarded  as  the 
sources  and  fountains  of  conduct — a  knowledge  whereof  may 
explain  what  else  were  obscure,  or  interpret  what  were 
otherwise  mysterious. 

Of  the  spirit  which  animated  him,  we  learn  something 
from  an  extract  taken  from  a  letter  addressed  to  the  writer, 
under  date  of  January  19,  1825  : 

"I  have  heard  of  your  safe  arrival  in  the  West  Indies,  by  a 
1  Pirate  who  is  now  near  us,  and  four  days  ago  boarded  a 
1  craft  of  ours.  The  name  is  thought  to  be  the  General 
'  Winder,  a  Baltimore  built  schooner.  Since  you  left  me, 
'  has  been  one  of  the  happiest  periods  of  my  life.  Unnoticed 
'  and  unremembered,  humbly  endeavouring  to  serve  a  world 
'  to  which  I  do  not  feel  myself  much  obliged,  except  for  its 
*  Maker's  and  Redeemer's  sake;  the  spectator  of  a  blessed 
'  work  of  mercy,  I  have  known  nothing  but  contentment 
{  and  desire  to  be  thankful.  You  will,  in  perusing  my  des- 
1  patches,  I  think,  see  wonders  of  Divine  goodness  to  admire, 
1  and  no  cause  to  regret  your  visit  to  us." 

On  the  24th  of  April,  he  wrote  in  his  Journal : 

"I  have  experienced  some  relief  in  my  feelings  from  learn- 
1  ing  that  my  pecuniary  affairs  in  the  United  States  are  in  a 
'  train  of  speedy  settlement,  on  the  footing  of  justice  to  my 
1  creditors;  an  event  I  have  long  desired  most  anxiously,  and 
1  for  which  I  bless  God,  through  whose  good  Providence  it 
'  has  taken  place.  But  I  have  information  also  from  that 
1  country  of  a  very  trying  nature." 

He  then  expresses  apprehension,  that  reports  put  in  circu- 
lation against  him  in  the  United  States,  had  made  impressions 
unfavourable  to  his  moral  character  which  could  never  be 
effaced;  his  conviction  that  in  many  ways  they  had  seriously 
injured  him;  that  whether  true  or  false,  they  were  judged  a 
sufficient  reason  for  superseding  him  whenever  another  per- 
son of  equal  qualifications  could  be  found  to  accept  the 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  227 

Agency;  that  the  Government,  not  less  than  the  Society, 
had  withheld  the  evidence  of  entire  confidence;  he  alluded 
to  the  facts,  that  few  individuals  in  America  had  written  to 
him,  and  that  in  the  letters  he  received,  there  was  a  coldness 
and  reserve  destroying  their  value;  that  in  reports  concerning 
the  Colony,  his  name  was  sedulously  avoided,  even  in  con- 
nexion with  the  very  services  he  had  rendered;  and  finally, 
that  the  information  contained  in  his  Journals  'and  letters, 
had  not  obtained  the  full  credit  to  which  it  was  entitled. 

"Why,"  he  exclaimed,  "have  I  not  resigned  a  situation 
c  which  I  cannot  hold  without  submitting  to  bear  such  a  load 
'  of  obloquy  ?  Every  month  of  my  continuance  in  Africa,  I 
1  do  indeed  sacrifice  much  of  the  proud  sensibilities  of  my 
i  heart." 

He  felt  justified  in  still  occupying  his  station,  by  the  fol- 
lowing considerations : 

1st.  In  so  doing,  he  did  nothing  dishonourable  in  itself; 
and 

2d.  There  were  positive  reasons  which  warranted  and 
required  the  sacrifice. 

To  render  his  continuance  dishonourable,  he  must  be  con- 
scious either  of  the  truth  of  the  accusations  urged  against 
him,  or  of  some  other  circumstance  disqualifying  him  for 
his  situation.  But  he  was  conscious  of  neither. 

The  reasons  which  required  his  stay,  were — 1st,  the  un- 
favourable impressions  which  might  be  drawn  from  his  re- 
signation. Might  it  not  be  regarded  as  a  concession,  that 
the  reports  which  had  injured  him  were  founded  in  truth  ? 

2d.  He  had  at  no  time  been  able  to  retire  from  his  station, 
without  leaving  the  Colony  destitute  of  an  Agent,  and  thus 
exposed  to  great  evils — perhaps  to  anarchy,  famine,  or  war. 
Would  it  be  right  to  put  in  jeopardy  the  interests  of  the  Co- 
lony, for  any  reasons  of  a  mere  personal  and  private  nature  ? 

3d.  The  claims  of  his  creditors  demanded,  that  he  should 
not  voluntarily  relinquish  the  prospect  which  his  situation 
afforded  of  discharging  them. 


228 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


4th.  Through  the  Divine  Mercy,  his  health  had  been  in 
a  good  measure  preserved  in  Africa'.  "And  why,"  he  asks, 
"  am  I  thus  preserved,  unless  to  perform  some  service  in  this 
'  country  ?  And  where  can  I  express  my  gratitude  so  well, 
'  as  on  the  very  theatre  of  such  signal  mercies  ?  I  have  ac- 
c  quired,  from  long  residence,  a  better  knowledge  of  the  coun- 
1  try,  and  affairs  of  the  Colony,  than  any  other  person  living; 
1  and  I  am  not  willing  to  forego*1  the  opportunity  put  into  my 
'  hands  alone,  to  be  extensively  useful  here.  Besides,  a 
{  change  of  Agents  cannot  rationally  be  expected  to  take 
1  place  without  the  loss  of  one  or  more  valuable  lives." 

In  respect  to  the  Colony,  he  saw  every  obstruction  to  the 
free  and  full  exercise  of  his  various  talents  removed.  "We 
are,"  said  he,  "thanks  to  Divine  Providence,  prosperous  be- 
1  yond  any  former  period  of  the  establishment.  Health,  union, 
*  content,  and  industry  within^ — peace,  respectability,  and 
1  confidence  without,  call  for  more  gratitude  than  we  possess 
1  here;  and  I  hope  that  the  hearts  of  our  American  friends 
{  may  supply  the  deficiency." 

Standing  on  the  summit  of  the  Cape,  he  extended  his 
view  over  a  magnificent  scene,  diversified  by  objects  bright,, 
beautiful,  and  sublime;  the  silver  stream  of  the  Montserado — 
Cape  Mount  fifty  miles  distant,  jutting  boldly  into  the  sea— a 
wide-spread  country,  dense  with  an  ever-green  forest,  "rising 
in  successive  ridges  of  verdure,"  far  into  the  interior;  the 
ocean,  over  which  the  eye  glanced  for  more  than  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  of  the  horizon,  in  an  instant  catching 
each  sail  that  ventured  within  this  mighty  compass  of  vision, 
and  his  admiration  of  the  Great  Author  of  Nature,  but  ren- 
dered him  more  compassionate  towards  those  who  amid  these 
wonders  of  His  hands,  were  blind  to  His  glory.  He  felt 
how  great  was  the  work  entrusted  to  him  of  founding  a  Chris- 
tian State  on  the  confines  of  a  continent,  where  man  had  for 
ages  been  separated  from  Truth  and  Virtue, — where  crime 
took  license  from  authority,  and  vice  was  hardened  by  cus- 
tom,— and  where  the  light  of  intellect  shone  dim  amid  the 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

sensual  and  selfish  passions.  But  he  knew  that  Humanity 
in  its  wildest  and  most  degraded  state,  may  be  reclaimed;  and 
hoped  that  beneath  the  extending  wings  of  an  empire,  per- 
vaded by  the  spirit  of  Liberty  and  Religion,  would  finally  be 
gathered  in  peace  the  millions  of  Africa;  or,  should  'this  hope 
be  disappointed,  he  saw -that  a  nobler  race  would  occupy  their 
places,  adorning  a  land  already  abounding  in  the  gifts  of  Pro- 
vidence, with  the  productions  of  knowledge,  of  genius,  of 
taste,  and  of  art. 

The  success  of  the  Colony,  he  perceived,  depended  prin- 
cipally upon  three  things: — The  stability  and  beneficence  of 
its  Government;  its  means  of  defence;  and  its  means  of  sub- 
sistence; and  these  again  must  find  their  chief  source  in  the 
union,  morality,  public  spirit,  and  religion;  or  (to  express 
•  all  in  a  word),  the  good  character  of  the  people. 

His  first  object  then  was,  to  animate  the  Colonists  with  a 
sense  of  their  responsibility  to  God,  themselves,  and  their 
race;  his  next,  to  instruct  them  how  most  effectually  to  show 
this  spirit  in  the  conduct  of  their  affairs.  Convinced  that 
religion  alone  could  qualify  them,  patiently,  to  endure  their 
trials,  and  nobly  to  perform  their  work,  he  encouraged  all 
sober  measures  designed  to  extend  and  increase  its  influence, 
and  ceased  riot  to  solicit  from  the  Board  and  other  friends  of 
Africa,  the  aid  of  enlightened  and  faithful  Ministers  of  the 
Gospel.  We  have  already  seen  with  what  delight  he  beheld 
the  members  of  this  -little  community,  attending  to  their 
spiritual  as  to  their  greatest  concerns;  and  how,  from  this, 
he  derived  assurance,  that  the  Colony  was  an  object  of  spe- 
cial favour  and  protection  to  the  Almighty. 

To  secure  the  stable  and  beneficent  operation  of  the  Go- 
vernment, it  was  shown  to  the  people,  that  its  only  firm  basis 
was,  their  reason  and  affections.  Mr.  Ashmun  explained  to 
each  officer  the  nature  and  extent  of  his  duties;  the  proper 
mode  of  their  execution;  and  then  permitted  neither  himself 
nor  others  to  interfere  with  a  manly  and  independent  dis- 


230 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


charge  of  them.  The  officers  were  respected,  because  they 
respected  themselves.  The  people  valued  their  Government, 
not  simply  because  it  afforded  them  protection,  but  because 
they  saw  their  fellow-citizens,  elected  by  themselves,  filling 
offices  of  trust,  and  sharing  largely  in  the  administration  of 
public  affairs.  The  Government,  they  perceived,  in  a  great 
degree,  rested  upon  them,  and  therefore  they  felt  it  their 
honour,  as  well  as  duty,  to  sustain  it. 

For  means  of  defence,  the  Agent  looked  not  more  to  the 
organization  and  discipline  of  the  Militia,  and  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  arms  and  fortifications,  in  proper  order  and  con- 
dition, than  to  that  just  and  pacific  policy  towards  the  natives 
which  should  leave  no  reason  or  even  plausible  pretext  for 
hostilities.  If  war  should  occur,  he  chose  to  have  conscience 
an  ally,  even  in  the  breast  of  the  enemy.  But  he  trusted 
not  solely  to  measures  of  prevention.  He  gave  orders  for 
repairing  the  Fort,  and  for  the  erection  of  two  new  Batteries, 
one  on  the  head  of  the  Cape  (to  command  the  roadstead); 
and  while  he  encouraged  such  exercises  as  were  necessary 
to  give  confidence  to  the  settlers,  in  their  military  powers, 
he  taught  them  by  precept  and  example,  to  fear  none  but 
God.  What  has  been  said  of  the  ancient  martyrs,  may  be 
said  of  Ashmun — "He  could  keep  one  eye  steadily  fixed  upon 
his  duty,  and  look  death  and  danger  out  of  countenance 
with  the  other." 

In  respect  to  means  of  subsistence,  while  he  regarded  ag- 
riculture as  of  primary  importance,  and  demanding  imme- 
diate, earnest,  and  general  attention,  he  saw  that  the  amount 
of  labour  required  for  clearing  and  cultivating  the  lands, 
(considering  what  must  be  applied  to  the  construction  of 
houses  and  other  works  within  the  limits  of  the  town,)  was 
too  great  to  leave  a  hope  that  the  Colony  could  at  a  very  early 
day,  derive  subsistence  from  the  products  of  its  own  soil.— 
Still  he  neglected  no  means  in  his  power  of  encouraging  and 
promoting  this  interest.  He  drew  up  many  valuable  direc- 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  231 

tions  to  the  Liberia  Farmer,  which  it  must  be  regretted  were 
not  then  printed  for  the  benefit  of  the  Colonists.* 

Supplies  not  to  be  derived  from  the  present  agriculture  of 
the  Colony,  he  perceived  might  be  obtained  in  trade  from  the 
natives,  and  therefore  sought  to  conciliate  the  neighbouring 
tribes,  and  to  open  with  them,  at  various  points  on  the  coast, 
a  mutually  advantageous  commerce.  "There  is  no  ques- 
tion," he  remarks,  "of  the  capability  of  this  country  to  furnish 
'  the  Colony  with  provisions.  A  little  system  and  providence 
'  are  all  that  is  necessary  to  make  the  supply  certain."  He 
had  proved,  by  actual  experiment,  that  it  was  far  more  eco- 
nomical to  subsist  the  Colony  on  African  than  American 
provisions.! 

On  the  arrival  of  the  brig  Hunter,  on  the  13th  of  March, 
1825,  with  sixty-six  settlers,  most  of  whom  were  farmers,  Mr. 
Ashmun  saw  the  necessity  of  extending,  if  possible,  the  lim- 
its of  the  Territory. 

The  following  abstract  from  his  own  pen,  contains  a  brief 
account  of  his  negotiations  to  secure  a  tract  of  land  on  the 
river  St.  Paul's : 

"The  slow  progress  and  ill  success  (he  observes)  of  the  first 
1  experiments  in  agriculture  at  Cape  Montserado,  directed  the 
1  attention  of  the  Agent,  early  in  the  year  1825,  to  an  in- 
c  quiry  into  the  causes  of  a  circumstance  so  detrimental  to 
'  the  prospects  of  the  settlement.  In  the  course  of  this  in- 
1  quiry,  a  number  of  obstacles  to  the  prosperity  of  this  leading 
1  branch  of  industry,  occurred,  which  a  length  of  time,  and 
'  expensive  improvements  alone  seemed  likely  to  overcome. 
'  It  was  perceived,  that  the  quality  of  the  lands  belonging 
£  to  the  settlement  of  Monrovia,  was  unfavourable  to  cul- 
L  tivation.  The  highlands  of  the  settlement  are  rocky,  and 
'  from  having  suffered  the  wash  of  the  rains,  are  in  many 

*  Appendix  No.  7. 
j-  He  thought  the  expense  diminished  nearly  one  half. 


232  LIFE    OF   ASHMUN. 

c  places  deprived  of  all  their  best  soil;  are  liable  to  be  sun 
1  burnt  in  tho  dry  season,  and  swept  of  their  crops  by  the 
4  sudden  currents  of  the  wet.  The  lowlands  are  too  wet  and 

*  low,  for  most  of  the  purposes  of  farming;  and  can  only  be 
'  brought  to  their  true  and  entire  value,  by  cutting  sluices, 
4  and  forming  dikes,  at  a  great  expense.     The  flat  country 
(  bordering  on  the  waters  are  alluvial;  and  extensive  tracts 
1  consist  of  little  more  than  the  barren  sands  of  the  ocean, 
'  sprinkled  rather  than  yet  covered  with  a  vegetable  mould — 

*  the  element  of  its  future  fertility.     The  distant  situation 
1  of  the  proprietors,  living  as  they  do  in  town,  from  their 
1  plantations,  presented  a  second  obstacle,  which,  in  regard 
4  to  those  settlers,  it  is  believed,  will  never  cease  to  keep  back 
4  the  business  of  agriculture.  The  people  of  Monrovia  are,  like- 
4  wise,  and  ever  must  be  made  up  of  a  variety  of  trades,  each 
i  of  which,  in  addition  to  the  little  agricultural  knowledge 
1  such  a  people  can  be  supposed  to  possess,  has  its  own  pecu- 
1  liar  views,  both  of  the  proper  mode  of  agriculture,  and  of 
1  the  expediency  of  engaging  in  it  at  all.     Concert  of  action 

*  on  this  subject,  has  never  been  obtained,  not  even  by  the 
'  most  positive  public  regulations: — without  such  concert, 

*  the  interest  at  large,  can  never  be  much;  and  has  hitherto 
'  hardly  existed  at  all. 

"The  arrival  of  the  brig  'Hunter,'  March  13th,  1825,  hav- 
1  ing  on  board  sixty-six  settlers,  of  whom  nearly  all  had  been 

*  bred  farmers,  and  who,  if  fixed  at  Monrovia,  must  have 
'  been  compelled  either  to  relinquish,  as  the  means  of  acquir- 
1  ing  their  livelihood,  the  only  branch  of  business  in  which 

*  they  were  fitted  to  succeed;  or  pursue  it  under  very  serious 
'  Disadvantages,  determined  the  Agent  to  form  a  new  agricul- 
1  tural  settlement,  in  a  situation  more  favourable  to  its  suc- 
c  cess,  than  any  offered  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Cape. 

*  He  accordingly  explored,  with  a  view  to  the  discovery  of 
'  such  a  situation,  the  Montserado  river,  as  far  as  to  the  head 

*  of  one  of  its  sources,  in  the  last  week  of  April.     But  being 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  233 

*  entirely  frustrated  by  the  low  and  forbidding  nature  of  all 
4  the  lands  examined  in  that  quarter,  he  directed  his  attention 
£  to  the  St.  Paul's.    The  tract  of  country  stretching  along  the 
f  South  bank  of  the  St.  Paul's,  and  bounded  Westwardly  by 
f  the  Stockton,  combined  in  it  every  desirable  advantage  for 
6  the  proposed  settlement,  and  fixed  the  Agent's  choice  im- 

*  mediately.     The  purchase  of  a  right  to  occupy  this  land, 
t  which  was  the   next  object  of  solicitude,  was  cautiously 
1  opened  to  some  of  the  most  influential  Chiefs  of  the  St. 

*  Paul's  without  delay — and  referred  to  the  decision  of  a 
1  general  council  of  the  country  authorities,  which  was  con- 
1  yoked  at  the  Agent's  instance,  at  Gourah,  on  Bush  rod  Island, 
1  May  2d.     The  Agent  attended — but  too  many  of  the  Chiefs 
1  being  absent  to  admit  of  the  accomplishment  of  the  business, 
'  the  Agent  was  obliged  after  waiting  five  days  without  see- 
i  ing  more  than  two  of  the  head  men,  to  return  on  the  7th  of 
c  the  same  month.     But  the  matter  was  so  vigorously  pressed, 
<  that,  after  a  variety  of  difficulties  and  delays,  all  of  which 
'  were  overruled  by  the  favourable  Providence  of  the  most 
1  High,  the  cession  of  the  whole  Territory  in  question,  was 
'  concluded;  and  a  part  of  the  purchase  money  paid  on  the 
1  llth  of  the  same  month. 

"Along  this  beautiful  river  were  formerly  scattered,  in  Af- 

*  rica's  better  days,  innumerable  native  hamlets;  and  lill  with- 
1  in  the  last  twenty  years,  nearly  the  whole  river-board,  for 
1  one  to  two  miles  back,  was  under  that  slight  culture  which 
1  obtains  among  the  natives  of  this  country.     But  the  popu- 

*  lation  has  been  wasted  by  the  rage  for  trading  in  slaves; 
1  with  which  the  constant  presence  of  slaving  vessels,  and 
1  the  introduction  of  foreign  luxuries,  have  inspired  them. — 
1  The  South  bank  of  this  river  and  all  the  intervening  coun- 
1  try  between  it  and  the  Montserado,  have  been,  from  this 
1  cause,  nearly  desolated  of  inhabitants.     A  few  detached 
'  and  solitary  plantations  scattered  at  long  intervals  through- 
'  out  the  tract,  but  just  serve  to  interrupt  the  silence,  and  re- 

30 


234  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

'  lieve  the  gloom  which  reigns  over  the  whole  region.  The 
'  labourers  who  carry  on  this  cultivation,  are  generally 
1  slaves  whose  masters  reside  either  on  Bushrod  Island,  on  the 
c  North  bank  of  the  river,  or  on  the  Island  at  the  mouth  of 
*  the  Montserado.  Those  owners,  finding  the  country  unoc- 
1  cupied,  select  such  tracts  as  are  best  adapted  to  their  purpo- 
c  ses,  and  cultivate  them  as  long  as  suits  their  convenience, 
'  without  thinking  about  any  property  in  the  soil. 

"The  country  to  which  I  beg  particularly  to  direct  the  at- 
'  tention  of  the  Board,  may  be  seen  (best  on  the  large  plan)  to 
(  commence  Westwardly  at  the  Stockton  creek, — bounded 
1  North  by  the  St.  Paul's,  South  by  the  marshy  mangrove 
1  country,  skirting  the  Montserado  river;  and  stretching  East- 
(  wardly  to  an  indefinite  extent.  Six  miles  above  the  Stock- 
{ ton,  and  on  the  St.  Paul's,  is  a  considerable  town,  (King 
1  Governor's;)  four  miles  in  the  interior  of  this,  is  another, 
'  (Ba  Konka's;)  but  with  these  exceptions,  and  perhaps  one 
'  hundred  acres  of  plantation-land  attached  to  those  two 
'  towns,  the  whole  tract,  comprehending  a  breadth  of  one  to 
<  three  leagues,  lying  along  the  whole  navigable  part  of  the 
1  St.  Paul's,  which  I  estimate  at  twenty  miles,  is  nearly  un- 
1  peopled  and  unoccupied.  The  jurisdiction  is  claimed  by 
1  old  King  Peter,  who  resides  on  Bushrod  Island;  and  of  this 
1  whole  tract)  I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  the  Board,  a 
1  purchase  has  been  effected,  and  formal  possession  taken, 
'•for  the  American  Colonization  Society.  The  deed  I  en- 
1  close. 

"In  regard  to  the  sincerity  with  which  this  transaction  has 
t  been  conducted  on  the  part  of  the  natives,  the  Board  may 
(  exercise  the  most  unqualified  confidence,  of  which  a  nego- 
'  tiation  with  native  Africans,  admits. 

"In  the  late  business,  I  told  them,  '  they  knew  I  had  never 
1  deceived,  or  injured  them;  or  even  treated  their  best  inter- 
4  ests,  with  indifference.  I  knew  they  considered  me  as  their 
*  friend,  and  my  heart  agreed  with  their  opinion,  in  testifying 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  235 

*  that  I  was  so.     I  had  been  long  in  their  country — and  for 

*  the  same  reasons  which  forbade  me  to  be  the  enemy  of  my 
4  own  countrymen,  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  be  theirs.  They 

*  saw  me  spending  my  life  in  a  strange  country,  in  order  to 
4  do  black  men  good;  and  black  people  were  all  brothers.     I 
4  felt  much  the  same  for  all,  and  knew  they  would  confide  in 

*  me;  as  I  certainly  should  in  any  deliberate  act  of  theirs'. — 
4  It  was  at  this  moment  that  I  became  more  fully  convinced 
'  than  ever  before,  of  the  happy  effects  which  that  course  of 
4  exact  justice,  which  I  had  so  long  endeavoured  to- pursue, 
1  could  produce  on  savage  minds.     I  felt  that  our  policy  had 

*  gained  a  moral  conquest,  and  that  was  the  moment  of  tri- 
c  umph.     They  reciprocated  the  confidence  which  I  professed 
4  to  repose  in  them;  and  as  the  Board  will  perceive  from  the 
'  Journal,  yielded  with  little  hesitation  the  important  point 
f  sought  of  them.    I  am  thus  explicit  in  order  to  represent,  as 
4  exactly  as  possible,  the  spirit  in  which  this  business  was 
4  throughout  conducted.     The  whole  progress  of  the  treaty 

*  will  be  seen  in  the  narrative  herewith  forwarded.     There 
{  remains  an  explanation  to  be  given  of  the  last  article  in  the 
{ instrument  of  ratification,  which  provides  for  the  appoint- 
4  ment,  on  the  part  of  the  Colony,  of  a  man  of  distinction,  ta- 
4  ken  from  the  Kings  of  the  country,  to  officiate  as  patron  of 

*<  the  projected  settlement. 

"By  the  deed,  the  purchase  includes  generally  all  the  lands 
4  bounded  North  by  the  St.   Paul's,  and  West  by  the  Stock- 

*  ton;  such  expressly  excepted,  as  are,  or  may  be,  at  the  time  of 

<  forming  and  extending  on  it  the  Colonial  settlement,  occu- 

<  pied  by,  and  necessary  to  the  subsistence  and  comfort  of, 
i  the  natives  of  the  country — it  being  no  part  of  the  intention 
1  of  this  purchase  to  deprive  those  people  of  a  single  real  ad- 
4  vantage;  but  on  the  contrary,  to  improve  them  and  advance 

*  their  happiness,  by  carrying  Christianity  and  civilization  to 

*  the  doors  of  their  cabins. 

"On  the  advantages  likely  to  flow  directly  from  this  valu- 


236  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

1  able  accession  of  territory,  it  would  be  easy,  by  loosening 
1  the  reins  of  the  imagination,  to  expatiate  largely.  But  we 
'  are  certainly  authorized  to  expect  from  it  the  means  of  more 
1  effectually  advancing  the  Colony  to  what  it  ought  to  be, 
'  than,  from  any,  perhaps  another  events,  that  have  occurred 
'  since  my  connexion  with  the  concern.  Some  of  these  ad- 

*  vantages  have  been  already  explained  in  this  paper.  Others 
c  may  be  inferred.     And  indulging  me  in  the  repetition  of 
'  some  of  the  former,  the  Board  are  at  liberty  to  regard  the 
'  following  as  among  the  most  prominent  and  certain  : 

"1st.     It  entirely  obviates  in  the  case  of  all  the  farmers 

*  hereafter  to  settle  in  the  country,  the  serious  disadvantage, 

*  (next  to  ruinous,)  of  being  several  miles  separated  in  their 
<  residence,  from  their  plantations. 

"2d.  It  gives  them,  instead  of  arduous  bluffs,  and  a  stub- 
c  born  soil,  which  after  severe  labour  would  be  fit  only  for 
'  coffee  plantations,  and  one  or  two  other  purposes,  a  pli- 
'  able  and  fertile  soil  in  a  champaign  country,  easily  cleared, 
c  and  entirely  adapted  to  every  species  of  tropical  culture. 

"3d.  It  places  such  settlers  in  a  situation  to  make  pro- 
(  visions  sufficient  to  subsist  themselves  and  their  families  in 
1  from  nine  to  twelve  months  after  their  ajrival  in  the  coun- 
1  try;  whereas,  without  it,  the  experiment  has  proved,  that 
1  two  or  three  years  are  not  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  attain 
( the  same  end. 

"4th.    It  will  enable  the  Society  to  dispose  of  ten  thousand 

*  settlers  in  a  compass  often  miles  from  town;  but  without  it, 
{ two  thousand  could  scarcely  be  situated  within  twenty  miles. 
1  By  an  inspection  of  the  map,  it  may  be  seen  that  the  scttle- 
'  ment  is  susceptible  of  an  extension  of  twenty  miles  from 
'  Monrovia,  without  leaving  the  St.  Paul's  or  big  Eastern 
c  branch  of  the  Montserado,  distant  more  than  three  miles. — 
{  By  these  waters,  the  boat  navigation  is  free  and  direct  to 
1  town — thus  affording  to  the  settlements  extended  on  this 
'  tract,  advantages  for  communicating  with  the  Cape,  which 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  237 

*  none  formed  on  the  Mamba  Tongue,  or  Montserado  Terri- 
1  tory,  could  ever  enjoy. 

"5th.  This  acquisition  of  territory  will  secure  to  the  Co- 
'  lony,  in  a  very  short  time,  the  entire  command  of  the  St. 
1  Paul's;  and  with  it,  the  trade  of  that  river,  which  is  already 
1  valuable,  and  may  be  rendered  much  more  so;  and  will 

*  break  up  the  slave-traffic  which  still  continues  to  be  carried 
1  on  with  foreigners,*  by  that  channel. 

"6th.     The  country  on  the  St.  Paul's  being  much  more  sa- 

<  lubrious  than  the  Montserado,  future  emigrants  will  suffer 
c  less  in  their  health.     Even  at  the  present  time  our  invalids 
'  have  a  practice  of  repairing  to  some  town  on'  that  river,  and 
1  have  never  failed  to  derive  benefit  from  the  change. 

"7th.  As  an  inference  from  the  foregoing  view  of  the  ad- 
1  vantages  resulting  from  this  extension  of  territory,  the  Board 
'  are  authorized,  finally,  to  expect  the*  accomplishment  of  their 
1  hopes,  in  the  future  rapid  advancement  of  the  Colony. — 
1  Nothing  but  mismanagement  on  the  part  of  your  Agents  in 
{ this  country,  can,  if  their  zeal  is  sustained  by  the  Society 
1  at  home,  be  supposed  capable  of  long  deferring  the  period, 
1  when  the  surplus  produce  of  the  Colony  will  supply  the  con- 

*  sumption  by  new  emigrants,  during  the  unproductive  period 
c  of  their  residence.     The  inviting  quality  of  the  soil,  and 
1  charming  situation  of  the  country  on  the  St.  Paul's,  will 
'  inevitably  engage  thousands  in  agriculture,  who,  if  confined 

*  to  the  Cape,  would  depend,  with  some  semblance  of  a  pre- 
1  text,  on  the  precarious  profits  of  trade,  till  their  habits 

*  would  become  incurably  irregular,  and  their  future  pros- 
{  pects,  ruined.     Agriculture,  I  venture  to  predict,  will,  at 
'  no  distant  time,  become  as  creditable  and  prosperous,  as  it  is 

<  now  neglected;  and  the  St.  Paul's,  instead  of  the  Montse- 

*  rado,  the  centre  of  population  and  wealth  to  the  Colony  of 
4  Liberia." 

*  At  this  moment,  I  observe  from  my  window,  three  French  and  Spanish 
schooners  lying  off  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Paul's  river,  awaiting  their  cargoes. 


238 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


"A  few  days  after  this  transaction,  a  slight  ferment  was 

*  produced  among  the  natives,  by  the  violent  remonstrance . 
'  of  some  of  the  neighbouring  Chiefs,  against  the  sale  of  so 

'  large  a  tract  of  their   country.     But,  the  whole  subsided 

<  without  any  serious  consequences.     Eleven  families  were 
'  soon  after  designated  to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  new  set- 
'  dement;  which  thence  forward  took  the  name  of  St.  Pauls. 

*  But  their  number  was  subsequently  reduced  to  nine,  by  the 

*  death  of  Reuben  Thompson,  and  Claibourne  Davis.     A 
1  large  passage-boat,  constructed  to  carry  eighty  persons  with 
1  convenience,  and  of  about  ten  tons  burden,  was  immediately 
1  commenced  for  the  purpose  of  plying  between  the  St. 
1  PhuVsj  and  Cape;  and  connecting  the  two  settlements  to- 
'  gether.     This  boat  was  launched  on  the  llth  of  the  folio w- 
1  ing  November,  when  the  new  settlers  had  fully  recovered 
(  from  the  sickness  of  which  all  severely  suffered  on  their 
6  first  arrival  in  the  country.    A  provisionary  form  of  civil 

<  and  military  organization  and  Government,  had  been  drawn 
1  up  for  this  settlement,  on  the  8th  of  November.     The  first 
1  draft  of  lands  took  place,  both  for  building  and  plantation 

<  lots,  on  the  9th;  and  the  appointment  of  the  officers  of  the 
1  settlement,  on  the  12th. 

"On  the  13th  of  the  same  month,  the  annual  rains  very 

<  seasonably  terminated — and  on  the  14th,  the  complete  occu- 
1  pation  of  the  lands,  took  place. 

"The  Agent,  accompanied  by  A.  Davis,   his  wife  and 

*  daughter,  Sally  Taylor,  John  Williams,  Cornelius  Brown, 
4  Gary  Kenny,  Joshua  Thompson,  with  seven  labourers,  and 
'  their  boys,  arrived  at  the  head  of  the  Stockton  at  one  o'clock 
1  on  that  day,  in  the  St.  Paul's  passage-boat,  on  her  first  trip 
1  up  the  Stockton.    An  hour  was  spent  in  making  a  landing- 
'  place  near  the  West  end  of  water-street.     The  grass  was 

*  found  too  rank  to  admit  of  moving  through  it;  and  on  the 
1  same  evening  a  temporary  landing-place  was  prepared  on 
1  the  St  Paul's,  near  a  small  town  belonging  to  a  native  of 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  239 

c  the  name  of  Jack  Soldier — where  the  people,  their  small  stock 
c  of  stores  and  tools,  were  landed;  and  two  small  houses  were 
'  hired  for  their '  accommodation,  till  they  might  provide  a 
•  shelter  for  themselves.  Such  are  the  small  beginnings  of 
1  this  settlement.  The  blessing  of  God  Almighty,  in  whose 
'  name,  and  for  whose  praise,  those  beginnings  have  been 
1  made,  and  are  humbly  consecrated,  alone,  can  raise  its  head 
1  to  the  elevation,  which  it  is  the  prayer  of  the  Agent,  who 
'  makes  this  record,  seated  on  a  bamboo  pallet,  in  a  solitary 
'  native  cabin,  on  the  margin  of  the  St.  Paul's,  that  it  may,  at 
c  no  great  distance  of  time,  attain."  J.  A. 

In  respect  to  the  Board  of  Managers,  neither  his  candor 
nor  magnanimity,  would  permit  his  general  confidence  in 
them  to  be  shaken,  because  error  had  weakened  their  confi- 
dence in  him.  He  knew,  also,  that  "confidence  is  a  plant  of 
slow  growth,"  which,  if  it  once  begin  to  wither,  requires  the 
most  delicate  and  watchful  attention,  and  revives  and  flbur- 
ishes  again  only  under  the  mild  light  of  truth  and  the  ge- 
nial dews  of  affection.  Its  roots  strike  not  less  into* 
the  heart,  than  the  judgment.  To  attempt  to  force  its  growth, 
is  to  kill  it.  If  doubt  still  rested  upon  any  portion  of  his  past, 
he  resolved,  if  possible,  to  leave  it  in  no  man's  power  to  ques- 
tion the  integrity,  wisdom,  and  energy  of  his  present  and  fu- 
ture conduct.  If  industry,  ever  active  and  unwearied,  zeal 
intense,  fortitude  unbending,  resolution  yielding  only  to  Pro- 
vidence, and  all  the  might  of  his  intellectual  power,  applied 
to  advance  the  interests  of  the  Colony,  could  clear  away  the 
imagined  stains  on  his  reputation;  he  felt  assured,  that  like 
gold  he  should  come  forth  from  the  furnace,  purer  and  bright- 
er for  the  trial.  His  course  towards  the  Board,  was  to  be  res- 
pectful, open,  frank,  and  manly.  His  self-regard  was  ever  to 
be  held  subordinate  to  affection  for  the  interests  of  the  Colony; 
and  public  duty,  not  private  advantage,  to  be1  the  ruling  mo- 
tive of  his  action. 

By  the  Hunter,  on  the  13th  of  March,  he  received  the  de- 


240  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

cisions  of  the  Board  on  the  new  form  of  Government,  and 
the  measures  therewith  adopted.  By  the  return  of  this  ves- 
sel, he  explained  fully  his  views  in  regard  to  these  measures, 
and  communicated  such  statements  and  suggestions  as  might 
enable  the  Board  to  judge  correctly  of  the  condition  and 
wants  of  the  Colony. 

"In  announcing,"  he  observes,  "ttte  final  decision  of  the 

<  Board  on  the  allocation  of  the  seven  individuals  settled  with- 
1  out  the  original  limits  of  the  town,  I  confess  I  dreaded  the 
1  possible  effects  of  the  chagrin  which  the  order  must  pro- 
1  duce.     It  was,  however,  received  with  calmness;  and  while 
{ it  discovered  to  them  that  the  Board  had  been  unhappily  led 
1  to  act,  on  very  erroneous  information,  excited  not  a  disres- 
'  pectful  murmur." 

Having  stated  in  a  very  clear  and  conclusive  manner  why 
the  grounds  assumed  in  this  decision  were  such  as  "could 
neither  be  felt  nor  understood  by  any  person  resident  in  the 
settlement,"  he  adds:  "I  know  that  the  decisions  of  the 

<  Board  have  been  formed  on  what  they  considered  the  pre- 
1  ponderance  of  correct  information.     And  this  circumstance 
1  fills  me  with  distress  and  alarm,  at  the  possible  consequences 
1  of  this  misplaced  confidence,  and 'for  the  preservation  of  the 
1  best  interests  of  the  settlement,  from  utter  subversion.     I  ear- 
1  nestly,  but  with  the  utmost  deference,  entreat  them  to  re- 
1  collect,  that  no  other  Agent  but  myself,  has  ever  spent  two 
1  weeks  of  the  dry  season,  or  set  a  compass  three  times,  to  my 
1  knowledge  on  this  Cape;  no  white  man  able  to  judge,  has 
1  ever,  before  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Gurley,  to  my  knowledge, 
1  given  himself  the  trouble  to  make,  even  correct  ocular  ob- 
(  servations,  one  hundred  yards  from  my  house,  in  more  than 
'  one  direction;  that  I  have,  on  the  contrary,  repeatedly  sur- 
1  veyed  every  inch  of  these  grounds;  that  this  spot  is  more 
c  familiar  in  all  its  features,  than  my  native  village;  that  I 
1  have  arranged,  and  carried  into  effect,  three  different  plans 
f  of  defence,  adapted  to  the  different  ^circumstances  of  the  set- 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  241 

*  tlement  on  as  many  different  occasions; — that  of  these  plans, 
e  the  two  first  have  sustained  the  test  of  as  powerful  an  as- 
1  sault,  as  the  town  can  ever  suffer  from  a  native  force;  and 
c  that  I  have  had  occasion  to  employ  the  guns  of  the  town 
'  upon  objects  at  every  point  of  our  water-board.  I  am  at 
1  this  moment  on  the  spot:  my  judgment  in  matters  of  specu- 
'  lation,  I  may  distrust:  but  observations  on  the  physical 
c  features  of  these  grounds,  conducted  by  the  rules  of  mensu- 
{  ration,  are  incapable  of  error. 

"I  know  not  whose  recollections  reported  to  the  Board, 
'  the  foregoing  statements  oppose.  My  sole  object  is  to  im- 
1  part  correct  information,  and  if  possible,  to  prevail  on  the 
'  Board  to  appoint  Agents  in  whose  statements  they  can  con- 
1  fide,  or  to  extend  their  confidence  to  such  as  are  acting  un- 
i  der  their  appointment. 

"In  a  multitude  of  matters  too  numerous  to  detail,  your  re- 
'  sident  Agent  must  always  exercise  a  large  discretion.  It  is 
(  not  possible  for  the  Board  to  direct — I  will  add,  it  is  not  pos- 
'  sible  for  the  Board  to  review  more  than  a  small  part  of  his 
'  measures.  He  can  have  neither  the  time  nor  means  to  com- 
1  municate — nor  the  Board  to  investigate  them.  I  have  al- 
c  ways  transmitted  voluminous  details  of  my  proceedings. — 
{  But  how  small  a  part  of  the  whole  do  these  comprehend  ! 
'  and  on  how  few,  even  of  these,  has  it  been  possible  for  the 
'  Board  4o  act  in  season  to  control  their  effects  !  for  most  of 
'  them  are  of  a  nature  to  admit  of  no  delay;  and  at  the  same 
1  time  materially  affect  the  best  interests  of  the  settlement. 

"It  is  my  most  valued  privilege  to  submit  my  administra- 
1  tion  to  the  supervision  of  the  Board;  but  it  is  a  privilege  of 
1  which  I  can  avail  myself  only  in  regard  to  leading  mea- 
1  sures.  Of  these  I  have  ever  aimed  to  state  the  facts,  and 
1  give  correct  information;  and  afterwards,  most  implicitly  to 
1  acquiesce  in,  and  execute  the  decisions  of  the  Board,  found- 
1  ed  on  such  information.  *  * 

"  These  remarks  are  extorted  by  a  perception  of  the  dan- 

31 


242  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

'  ger  which  seems  to  threaten  more  than  one  primary  inter- 
'  est  of  this  Colony.  One  of  these  is  that  entire  confidence. 
'  which  ought  to  subsist  on  the  part  of  the  settlers,  in  all  the 
'  engagements,  even  implied  and  indirect  engagements,  of 

<  the  Board." 

Of  the  new  form  of  Government,  he  remarks  : 
"The  instructions  of  the  Board  in  relation  to  the  plan  of 
'  Government  submitted,  after  virtually  doing  away  the  of- 
'  fice  of  Vice-Agent,  leaves  its  final  fate  to  depend  on  the 

<  event  of  the  experiment.     I  certainly  had  less  confidence 
/  in  its  success  at  first,  than  now.     And  if  the  Board  should 

{  appreciate  its  fruits  as  I  do,  they  will  long  authorize  the 
c  continuance  of  the  'experiment.' 

"I  am  happy  to  express  my  entire  accordance  with  the 
'  wishes  of  the  Board,  in  regard  to  the  Christian  simplicity 

<  which  ought  to  characterize  the  Government,  policy,  and 
1  institutions  of  the  Colony.     Compared  with  ail  other  civil 
'  societies  on  this  continent,  it  certainly  does  exhibit  a  repub- 
'  lican  simplicity  of  structure,  to  foreigners  scarcely  credible."* 

*  In  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Society,  by  the  Hunter,  he  observes : 

"I  am    sorry    to  find    Mr. and  myself,  in  so  poor  credit  with    the 

Board.  Even  if  they  differed  from  ourselves  in  their  opinion  of  our  wisd&m, 
I  still  hoped  they  might  confide  in  our  veracity;  and  that  if  they  saw  fit  to 
repeal  our  measures,  they  would  not  distrust  the  truth  of  our  statements.  As 
regards  my  own  private  interest  in  the  good  opinion  of  the  Board,  however 
mortifying  to  my  feelings  the  inferences-  from  some  parts  of  the  last  letter  of 
instructions,  I  regard  it  all  of  little  moment  compared  with  the  effects  I  am 
apprehensive  some  of  their  decisions  will  have  on  the  prosperity  of  the  Colo- 
ny. The  Board  are  misled  in  many  things — in  some  materially.  But  reflect- 
ing on  my  own  circumstances,  I  have  determined,  that  until  I  can  enjoy  a 
personal  interview,  it  will  be  inexpedient,  and  may  appear  officious  in  me,  to 
undertake  to  set  them  right.  In  this  remark,  I  beg  to  explain,  that  I  refer 
wholly  to  wrong  information;  and  as  the  effect  of  such  information,  some 
wrong  impressions  respecting  the  actual  state  of  things,  both  formerly  and  at 
the  present  time,  in  this  Colony.  I  shall  not  undertake  to  contradict  too 
roundly,  what  the  Board  seem  to  regard  as  good  authority,  till  I  am  better  as- 
sured that  they  will  admit  my  own.  In  the  mean  time,  as  truth  and  sober 
reality  commonly  have  a  weight  and  consistency  in  themselves  which  fiction 


LIFE    OF    ASH M UN.  243 

By  the  same  conveyance,  Mr.  Ashmun  replied,  fully,  to  a 
letter  which  had  been  addressed  to  him  on  the  subject  of  the 
Repertory,  and  which  contained  sundry  allegations  against 
his  conduct  in  connection  with  that  work.  We  have  alluded 
in  a  former  chapter,  to  the  unfortunate  differences  which 
arose  between  him  and  several  of  the  gentlemen  (who  super- 
vised the  editorial  department  of 'the  Repertory),  in.  conse- 
quence of  its  pecuniary  embarrassments.  These  differences 
had  their  origin,  principally,  if  not  entirely,  in  misapprehen- 
sion. A  public  notice,  however,  had  been  sent  forth  on  the 
cover  of  that  work,  after  Mr.  Ashmun's  departure  from  the 
country,  charging  him,  by  implication  at  least,  with  a  breach 
of  trust.  Though  this  publication  was  early  and  deeply  re- 
gretted by  some  who  lent  it  their  sanction,  others  still  retain- 
ed the  sentiments  which  dictated  it,  and  to  these  sentiments 
as  the  main  source  must  be  traced,  the  suspicion  and  distrust 
of  Ashmun  which  so  long  infected  the  mind  of  the  Board 
and  of  the  community  in  which  they  resided.  A  respectable 
individual  had  now  frankly  communicated  the  charges  which 
existed  against  him,  and  he  therefore  felt  required  by  duty 
to  the  cause  in  which  he  was  engaged,  as  well  as  to  himself, 
to  meet  and  refute  them.  It  would  be  useless  to  go  into  de- 
tails on  this  subject,  especially  as  the  effect  of  this  reply  in 
connection  with  other  circumstances,  will  presently  be  seen 
in  the  proceedings  of  the  Board.  The  conclusion  of  this  let- 
ter is  inserted  to  show  how  deep  were  his  feelings  on  this 
occasion,  and  how  eloquently  he  could  express  them : 

"However  lightly  the  accusations  in  question  may  have 
1  been  resolved  on  and  published,  the  deed  has  drawn  after  it 
'  no  trivial  consequences.  To  have  robbed  an  individual  who 
*  is  known  to  have  the  sensibilities  of  a  man,  of  so  great  a 
c  share  of  his  peace  as  I  have  suffered  and  must,  would,  if 

and  exaggeration  never  possess,  and  as  I  know  my  information  to  have  sub- 
stantially these  qualities,  I  shall  rest  as  easy  as  possible,  and  await  the  issue 
«f  things." 


244 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


1  truly  weighed,  be  regarded  as  something;  to  shake,  for  a 
1  season,  and  perhaps  till  the  grave  shall  hide  them  from  me 
1  forever,  the  confidence  of  two  venerable  parents,  on  whose 
1  names  calumny  never  before  dared  to  affix  a  stain,  and  who 
'  would  sooner  follow  their  nine  children  to  the  grave-yard, 
£  than  believe  that  one  of  them  could  disgrace  it;  to  blast,  for 
'  a  season,  at  least,  the  fond' hopes  of  one  of  the  most  respecta- 
1  ble  and  numerous  families  in  the  United  States;  to  poison, 
1  with  suspicion,  the  minds  of  a  numerous  connexion  of  be- 
' loved  and  confiding  friends,  in  half  the  States  of  the  Union; 
( to  place  me  as  an  insulated  being  in  the  midst  of  the  lower 
1  creation,  bound  to  no  part  by  the  ties  of  a*  sincere  respect; 
1  to  injure  the  valued,  and  in  some  sense,  sacred  cause  in 
1  which  I  have  sacrificed  much  and  hazarded  more,  by  cur- 
1  tailing  my  usefulness  and  weakening  the  bonds  of  mutual 
f  confidence  between  my  employers  and  myself — between 
1  me  and  the  Colonists; — thus  to  tie  up,  for  months,  from  effi- 
1  cient  exertion,  the  hands  of  a  young  man,  whose  advanta- 
c  ges  have  been  many,  and  whose  obligations  to  be  useful,  are 
'  felt  to  be  imperious;  these  are  some  of  the  actual  fruits  of 
c  that  publication:  the  end  of  it,  is  yet  to  be  awaited.  The 
f  Board  have  seen  on  what  grounds  that  tremendous  respon- 
(  sibility  has  been  incurred.  As  a  dispensation  of  Heaven,  I 
1  accept  it  with  penitence  for  the  punishment  of  my  sins.  As 
1  far  as  it  has  been  the  work  of  man,  I  protest  against  it  with 
'  all  the  abhorrence  and  force  which  its  character  inspires. 
1  And  I  have  done  it  in  language  which  must  have  its  weight; 
1  because  it  is  the  language  of  truth — of  truth  which,  whoever 
1  lives,  will  see  every  opening  circumstance  in  future  to  cor- 
1  roborate  and  establish. 

"On  leaving  the  United  States,  I  formally  assigned  all  the 

*  uncollected  arrears  of  the  Repertory  to  pay  its  debts.   Avail- 

*  ing  myself  from  conscientious  motives,  of  no  insolvent  laws, 
1  I  delivered  up  every  dollar  of  disposable  property  I  had,  in 
L  proportionate  shares,  to  my  creditors.     The  compensation 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  245 

i  I  received  as  Agent  of  your  Board,  was  so  applied;  also  a 
1  large  edition  of  the  Life  of  Bacon,  which  I  have  been  mor- 
1  tified  to  learn,  has  not  answered  my  expectations  in  the 
'  sales,  and  consequently  left  a  larger  unsettled  balance,  to  be 
1  otherwise  paid  than  I  anticipated. 

"I  do  not  allow  myself  to  cherish  a  bitter  feeling  towards 
1  any  man  living.  *  *  I  shall,  I  hope,  never  trouble  your 
c  respectable  body  with  a  similar  detail;  and  most  probably, 
1  let  the  whole  matter  slumber  in  silence,  till  a  higher  power 
'  shall  call  it  up  for  a  final  decision  before  an  unerring  tri- 
1  bunal." 

By  the  same  conveyance,  he  transmitted  interesting  papers 
on  many  subjects,*  particularly  one  relating  to  the  moral  and 
social  condition  of  the  neighbouring  tribes;  the  facilities  for 
Missionary  efforts  among  them;  and  the  best  mode  of  con- 
ducting such  efforts.!  "In  regard  to  public  objects  of  atten- 
1  tion,"  he  observes,  "The  most  has  been  made  of  the  scanty 
'  means  at  my  disposal.  Gladly  would  I  expend  on  these 
1  objects  thousands — and  it  could  be  done  with  vast  advan- 
1  tage — where  I  have  only  a  few  dollars,  and  those  raised  by 
1  dint  of  management,  which  few  besides  myself,  would  ex- 
£  ercise." 

The  exhibition  which  he  presented  of  the  state  of  the  Co- 
lony; the  industry  of  the  citizens;  the  progress  of  various 

*  The  following  is  a  list  of  his  despatches  received  by  the  Hunter : 

1.  Official  letter  to  the  Board. 

2.  Two  sheets  containing  surveys  of  the  grounds  on  which  the  town  stands. 

3.  Copy  of  a  letter  to  Rev.  Wm.  McKenney. 

4.  Statement  of  account  with  the  United  States,  to  the  28th  of  February. 

5.  Plans  and  estimates  of  a  Receptacle  for  emigrants. 

6.  Transcript  of  the  Colonial  Journal  to  this  date. 

7.  A  paper  intended  to  correct  erroneous  accounts  of  this  country. 

8.  A  statement  of  certain  facts  required  by  — ; last  letter,  to  be  given 

to  the  Board. 

9.  A  memorial  respecting  a  Missionary  establishment  near  the  settlement. 

f  Appendix  No.  8. 


246  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

improvements;  the  condition  of  the  schools,*  and  especially 
the  fact,  that  most  of  the  salaries  of  the  officers  of  the  new 
Government  had  been  paid;  taken  in  connexion  with  numer- 
ous other  evidences  of  the  wisdom  and  energy  of  his  pro- 
ceedings, left  it  impossible  for  the  spirit  of  distrust  longer  to 
obscure  his  character. 

On  the  25th  of  April,  1825,  a  motion  was  made  in  the 
Board,  and  adopted,  to  proceed  on  the  18th  of  the  next  month, 
to  organize  a  permanent  Government  for  the  Colony;  and  on 
the  day  appointed,  the  following  resolution,  offered  by  Joseph 
Gales,  Jr.  Esq.  was  adopted  : 

"Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Managers,  considering  the 

*  satisfactory  information  afforded  by  recent  accounts  from 
1  the  Colony,  of  the  successful  operation  of  the  plan  for  the 
f  civil  Government  thereof,  as  established  by  the  Agent  in 
'  August  last — and  seeing  therein  reason  to  reconsider  their 

<  instructions  to  the  Agent,  of  the  29th  of  December,  1824, 
1  now  approve  of  the  principles  of  that  form  of  Government, 

*  and  give  their  sanction  to  the  same." 

On  the  23d  of  May,  the  two  following  resolutions  were 
unanimously  adopted : 

"Resolved^  That  so  much  of  the  resolution  of  January 

*  12th,  1825,  as  constitutes  Dr.  Peaco  Agent  of  the  Society, 

<  be  rescinded. 

"Resolved,  That  Mr.  Ashmun^  be  appointed  COLONIAL 
c  AGENT  to  the  Society;  and  that  Dr.  Peaco,  the  Govern- 
{  ment  Agent,  be  authorized  and  requested,  on  his  arrival  in 
1  the  Colony,  to  assist  Mr.  Ashmun  with  his  counsel;  and 
1  fully  authorized  to  take  upon  himself,  all  the  duties  of  Colo- 
£  nial  Agent,  in  case  of  the  absence,  inability,  or  death  of  Mr. 
1  Ashmun." 

On  the  same  day,  Mr.  Gales,  from  a  Committee  previously 

*  "One  for  heathen  children,  of  whom  we  have  forty-five  between  seven 
and  fifteen."— ASHMUN. 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  247 

appointed  to  consider  the  digest  of  laws,  submitted  by  the 
Agents  with  the  new  form  of  Government,  reported  the  same 
with  two  amendments,  and  it  was  directed  that  '-'two  thou- 
1  sand  copies  of  the  Constitution,  Government,  and  Laws  of 
'  the  Colony  of  Liberia,  as  established  by  the  Board  of  Mana- 
<  gers  of  the  Colonization  Society  at  Washington,  May  23d, 
1  1825,"  should  be  printed. 

On  the  13th  of  June,  an  influential  member  of  the  Board, 
who  was  absent  when  the  proceedings  touching  the  appoint- 
ment of  Mr.  Ashmun  were  adopted,  moved  that  they  be 
reconsidered  on  the  2d  of  July;  and  that  in  the  mean  time 
the  grounds  of  certain  charges  supposed  to  exist  against  Mr. 
Ashmun,  be  examined  by  a  Committee  of  the  Board,*  in- 
structed to  report  the  result  of  their  investigation. 

The  Report  presented  by  the  chairmant  of  this  Commit- 
tee, on  the  2d  of  July,  gave  it  as  the  opinion  of  the  Com- 
mittee, that  Mr.  Ashmun  "had  done  all  in  his  power  to  afford 
1  to  his  creditors  that  satisfaction  which  they  had  a  right  to 
1  expect;"  in  regard  to  all  other  charges,  adverted  with  plea- 
sure, to  the  judgment  of  the  Board,  as  expressed  in  their  re- 

*  It  ought  to  be  stated  to  the  honour  of  this  gentleman,  that  he,  not  less 
than  the  other  members  of  the  Board,  after  the  settled  appointment  of  Mr. 
Ashmun  to  the  Colonial  Agency,  gave  to  him  a  firm  and  constant  support. — 
With  a  candor  and  magnanimity  to  have  been  expected  from  him,  he  submit- 
ted to  the  Twelfth  Annual  Meeting,  a  resolution  instructing  the  Board  of 
Managers  to  cause  a  suitable  monument,  with  an  appropriate  inscription,  to 
be  erected  over  the  grave  of  Ashmun;  and  in  support  of  the  resolution,  said 
eloquently,  that  to  him,  the  Society  was  "more  indebted,  than  to  all  the  la- 
bours of  all  its  friends;"  that  from  the  time  he  had  resolved  to  share  the  fate 
of  the  infant  Colony,  in  the  greatest  peril  when  he  arrived  in  Africa,  "he  had 
devoted  all  the  powers  of  his  mind  and  body,  till  he  sacrificed  health  and  life 
to  the  people  he  had  saved."  "It  is  well  known,"  he  adds,  "how,  in  the  va- 
rying circumstances  of  danger  and  difficulty,  in  which  they  were  placed,  eve- 
ry variety  of  quality  and  talent,  that  could  be  called  for,  military  skill  and 
courage,  political  sagacity  and  address,  were  most  conspicuously  exhibited  in 
this  remarkable  man." 

t  Joseph  Gales,  Jr.  Esq. 


248  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

solution  of  the  28th  of  March;  declared  that  whatever  might 
have  been  the  case  formerly,  he  now  enjoyed  the  confidence 
of  the  United  States'  Government;  vindicated  his  reputation 
from  all  just  reproach,  and  concluded  in  the  following  words: 

"The  Committee  does  refer  with  great  satisfaction,  to  the 
c  long,  the  able,  the  devoted  services  of  Mr.  Ashmun,  in  the 
'  cause  of  the  Society.  However  the  Board  here  may  have 
c  differed  from  him  in  their  judgment,  of  his  policy  and  mea- 
1  sures  in  detail — and  however  the  Colonists  themselves  may 
1  have  complained  of  the  Agent,  the  ultimate  fact  obtains  to 
1  the  high  satisfaction  of  the  Board,  that  the  Colony  flourishes. 
£  To  this  fact  the  Agent — the  Colonists — those  who  have 
c  visited  Liberia  concurrently  testify — and  of  this  fact  the 
1  Government  of  the  United  States  is  satisfied.  The  Board 
f  will  develope  principles  here,  which  must,  by  the  Agent, 
1  be  applied  to  circumstances  on  the  spot — and  however  much 
1  of  the  present  happy  condition  of  Liberia  is  to  be  ascribed  to 
c  the  circumspect  wisdom  of  the  Board  in  devising,  the  Com- 
'  mittee  must  in  sheer  justice  and  in  obedience  to  fact,  as- 
£  cribe  not  less  to  the  intelligence,  fidelity,  and  firmness  of 
1  Mr.  Ashmun,  in  execution  in  Africa :  And  under  this  con- 
1  viction,  recommends  that  Mr.  Ashmun  be  continued  the 
1  principal  Agent  of  the  Society  at  Liberia;  and  proposes  the 
f  following  resolution : 

"Resolved,  That  the  proceedings  of 'the  23d  of  May,  re- 
<  considered  by  the  resolution  of  the  13th  of  last  month,  be, 
1  and  they  are  hereby,  confirmed." 

The  Report  and  Resolution  were  unanimously  adopted. 

Thus  have  we  seen  Ashmun  treading  alone,  for  years,  his 
rugged  and  perilous  way,  bleeding  at  almost  every  step  from 
the  strokes  of  fortune;  overcoming  one  obstacle  to  encounter 
others  more  formidable;  in  grief  and  sickness  contending  with 
danger  and  confronting  death;  the  ghost  of  his  departed  repu- 
tation constantly  haunting  his  ascent,  while  often,  even  the 
mountain-tops  before  him  were  hid  in  darkness. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  249 

But  no  bursting  storm,  no  pealing  thunder,  though  the 
forests  bow  around  him  and  the  rocks  tremble,  can  shake 
the  purpose  of  his  soul.  There  were  elements  within  him 
more  powerful  than  the  elements  without.  He  now  STANDS 

ON  AN    EMINENCE  IN  THE  CLEAR    DAY.       The    cliffs    are    D6- 

coming  bright,  and  the  mantling  clouds  below  are  touched 
witrh  the  colours  of  the  morning.  See !  there  is  neither 
pride  in  his  eye,  nor  triumph  in  his  air;  but  silent,  meek,  he 
stands,  in  the  attitude  and  act  of  devotion.  He  admires  that 
Hand,  which  unseen  had  led  him;  his  strength  in  weakness, 
his  guide  in  perplexity,  his  defence  in  danger,  and  his  shield 
in  war;  that  Hand  which  corrected  him,  to  teach  him  wis- 
dom— that  disciplined  him  for  valour  in  adversity,  and  made 
him  humble  that  he  might  be  great.  He  realizes  that  it  is 
good  for  him,  that  he  has  been  afflicted.  He  feels  that  to  be 
invincible,  he  must  conquer  himself;  and  that  the  victory 
overcoming  the  world,  is  FAITH.  He  sees  in  every  past 
trial,  a  blessing— in  every  cross,  an  honour — in  every  chas- 
tisement, paternal  love;  that  what  seemed  a  judgment,  was 
really  a  mercy;  and  that  sorrow  had  gone  before,  but  as  the 
herald  of  joy.  The  book  of  Providence  is  now  unsealed; 
he  perceives  that  in  the  Divine  counsels,  not  less  benevolent 
in  their  secrecy,  than  revelation,  his  welfare  and  usefulness 
are  indissolubly  united.  Sensible  of  the  errors  and  sins  of  his 
life,  he  considers  verified  to  him  the  promise — "If  his  chil- 
dren forsake  my  law,  and  walk  not  in  my  judgments — if  they 
break  my  statutes  and  keep  not  my  commandments:  then 
will  I  visit  their  transgressions  with  the  rod,  and  their  iniqui- 
ty with  stripes:  Nevertheless  my  loving  kindness  will  I  not 
utterly  take  from  him,  nor  suffer  my  faithfulness  to  fail." 

Not  for  myself  alone,  O  God,  might  he  exclaim,  have  I 
thus  been  chosen  in  the  furnace  of  affliction.  I  stand  here 
thy  servant,  rescued  and  preserved,  as  by  miracle,  on  this 
profane  and  barbarous  shore,  to  plant  thy  truth;  to  proclaim 
thy  mercy,  and  publish  thy  laws  to  the  perishing  people 


250 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


of  Africa.  Here,  where  I  weep  to  see  superstition  darkly  and 
horribly  enthroned  amid  the  riches  and  grandeur  of  thy 
.  works,  and  man,  formed  in  thine  image,  bought,  and  sold, 
and  scorned,  and  chained  like  a  vile  brute;  where  avarice 
has  plundered  and  crushed  the  weak,  and  blood,  wantonly 
and  cruelly  shed,  for  ages  cried  to  Thee  from  the  ground  for 
vengeance;  here  where  the  gloom  of  earth  so  dismal,  is  yet 
overhung  by  thy  pure  starred  Heaven,  less  bright  than  thy 
mercy,  would  I  found  a  CHRISTIAN  COMMONWEALTH,  to 
stand  thy  TEMPLE  FOREVER.* 

*  How  often  are  Christians  made  to  feel  the  truth  of  the  sentiments  ex- 
pressed in  the  following  quaint,  but  eloquent  passage,  from  Jeremy  Taylor: — 

"And  therefore  observe  how  it  is  that  God's  mercy  prevails  over  all  His 
works;  it  is  even  then,  when  nothing  can  be  discerned  but  His  judgments: — 
For  as  when  a  famine  had  been  in  Israel,  in  the  days  of  Ahab,  for  three  years 
and  a  half,  when  the  angry  Prophet  Elijah  met  the  King,  and  presently  a  great 
w:nd  arose,  and  the  dust  blew  into  the  eyes  of  them  that  walked  abroad,  and 
the  face  of  the  Heavens  was  black,  and  all  a  tempest;  yet  then  the  Prophet 
was  the  most  gentle,  and  God  began  to  forgive,  and  the  Heavens  were  more 
beautiful  than  when  the  sun  puts  on  the  brightest  ornaments  of  a  bridegroom, 
going  from  his  chambers  of  the  East:  so  it  is  in  the  economy  of  the  Divine 
Mercy;  when  God  makes  our  faces  black,  and  the  winds  blow  so  loud  till 
the  cordage  cracks,  and  our  gay  fortunes  split,  and  our  houses  are  dressed 
with  cypress  and  yew,  and  the  mourners  go  about  the  streets,  this  is  nothing 
but  the  pompa  misericordice;  this  is  the  funeral  of  our  sins,  dressed,  indeed, 
with  emblems  of  mourning,  and  proclaimed  with  sad  accents  of  death;  but  the 
sight  is  refreshing,  as  the  beauties  of  a  field  which  God  hath  blessed,  and  the 
sounds  are  healthful  as  the  noise  of  a  Physician." 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


Mr.  ASHMUN  stood  among  the  Colonists  like  a  father  in 
the  midst  of  his  children.  Affection  tempered  his  authority, 
and  respect  dignified  their  obedience.  His  wisdom  and  firm- 
ness won  their  confidence,  while  his  confidence  in  them  in- 
creased as  he  beheld  them  inclined  to  instruction,  and  deriv- 
ing profit  from  experience.  The  bond  which  so  united 
him  to  this  little  community,  was  strengthened  by  the 
recollection  of  mutual  cares,  interests,  labours,  sufferings, 
sympathies,  and  dangers.  He  had  infused  much  of  his  own 
spirit  into  the  minds  of  the  settlers;  and  while  he  saw  intel- 
ligence, industry,  fortitude,  and  enterprise  springing  up  vigo- 
rously around  him,  he  saw  also  testified  in  the  gratitude 
beaming  from  many  eyes,  a  conviction  that,  under  Provi- 
dence, these  virtues  had  been  reared  and  fostered  by  the  dis- 
cipline of  his  hand,  and  the  energy  of  his  example. 

The  anticipation  of  an  early  death,  was  with  him,  a  pow- 
erful motive  for  exertion.  "The  candle  of  life,"  he  observes, 


252  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

"burns  fast  in  this  region."  "I  wish  to  make  the  most  of  the 
inch  that  remains,  and  see  the  most  work  possible,  accom- 
plished in  the  least  time."  If  there  be  truth  in  the  maxim, 

"Arcum  intensio  frangit,  Animum  remissio," 

his  powers  never  suffered  from  relaxation.  The  execution  of 
one  work,  incited  him  to  attempt  a  greater;  and  like  Paul,  he 
forgot  the  things  which  were  behind,  in  his  onward  course 
towards*  the  mark  of  perfection.  He  extended  his  views  and 
his  plans.  He  chose  to  keep  his  armour  polished  by  use;  de- 
siring as  a  faithful  Christian  soldier,  that  it  might  gleam 
bright  to  the  eye  of  his  great  Captain,  in  the  setting  sun. 

To  build  up  a  State  in  Africa,  that  might  stand  a  model 
for  future  Colonies, — a  State  informed  and  cemented  by  the 
spirit  of  Christianity;  to  develope  in  due  proportions  its  pow- 
ers, and  wisely  to  regulate  its  relations;  to  extend  its  Terri- 
tory; to  bind  to  it  in  amity,  barbarous  tribes,  and  if  possi- 
ble, gather  them  under  the  protection  and  benignity  of  its 
laws;  to  abolish  extensively,  the  slave  trade;  to  aid  the  cause 
of  missions;  open  a  way  for  the  Christian  Religion  to  the  in- 
terior of  Africa;  and  kindle  into  life  and  action,  the  spirit 
which  must  conduct  it  thither  by  just  representations  of  the 
unbounded  good  to  be  thereby  accomplished;  to  secure  the 
adoption,  by  the  Society,  of  a  policy  correspondent  to  his  own, 
and  to  the  necessities  of  the  Colony;  and  finally,  so  to  de- 
monstrate and  exhibit  the  utility  and  glory  of  the  scheme  of 
African  Colonization,  as  to  unite  the  American  people  -in  an 
application  of  the  powers  of  the  STATE  AND  NATIONAL  GO- 
VERNMENTS to  consummate  the  work, — these  were  the  ob- 
jects to  which  he  dedicated  himself  without  hesitation,  and 
without  reserve.  He  was  not  satisfied  with  that  moderate 
course  of  action  which  if  it  incur  little  censure,  deserves  less 
praise.  He  knew  that  an  "innoxious  and  ineffectual  charac- 
ter, that  seems  formed  upon  a  plan  of  apology  and  disculpa- 
tion,  falls  miserably  short  of  the  mark  of  public  duty.  That 
duty  demands  and  requires,  that  what  is  right  should  not 


:* 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

only  be  made  known,  but  made  prevalent;  that  what  is  evil, 
should  not  only  be  detected,  but  defeated.  When  the  public 
man  omits  to  put  himself  in  a  situation  of  doing  his  duty  with 
effect,  it  is  an  omission  that  frustrates  the  purposes  of  his 
trust  almost  as  much  as  if  he  had  formally  betrayed  it.  It  is 
surely  no  very  rational  account  of  a  man's  life,  that  he  has 
always  acted  right;  but  has  taken  special  care,  to  act  in  such 
a  manner  that  his  endeavours  could  not  possibly  be  produc- 
tive of  any  consequence."*  Penetrated  by  such  sentiments, 
Mr.  Ashmun  considered  less  what  was  expected,  than  what 
might  be  achieved;  not  what  others  had  done,  but  how  he 
might  do  more.  He  knew  that  boldness  was  often  as  neces- 
sary as  prudence;  and  to  plan  judiciously,  hardly  more  im- 
portant than  to  execute  with  despatch.  He  saw  that  as  in 
nature,  the  planets  were  more  sublime,  because  silent,  swift, 
and  constant  in  motion,  so  the  mind  was  not  more  great  and 
admirable  by  method  and  amplitude,  than  by  facility,  conti- 
nuity, and  rapidity  of  thought  and  action.  He  saw  that  to 
change  the  whole  intellectual  and  moral  condition  of  Africa, 
was  a  work  for  a  nation  and  an  age;  but  he  knew  it  was  prac- 
ticable, and  that  the  difficulty  and  greatness  of  it,  were  the 
best  reasons  in  the  world,  why  it  should  be  begun  without 
delay,  arid  prosecuted  in  the  most  earnest  and  decided  man- 
ner. His  own  zeal,  his  own  energy,  were  of  little  value  or  ef- 
fect, except  as  they  served  to  kindle  the  zeal  and  awaken  the 
energies  of  others.  He  perceived  that  it  was  easier  to  com- 
mand the  assent  of  the  understandings,  than  the  activity  of 
the  wills  of  men,  and  that  measures  of  good  failed  less  fre- 
quently to  secure  approbation,  than  performance.  He  knew 
that  "in  doing  good,  we  are  generally  cold,  languid,  and  slug- 
gish; and  of  all  things,  afraid  of  being  too  much  in  the  right. 
But  that  the  works  of  malice  and  injustice,  are  quite  in 
another  style.  They  are  finished  with  a  bold  and  masterly 

*  Burke. 


254  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

hand,  touched  as  they  are  with  the  spirit  of  those  vehement 
passions  that  call  forth  all  our  energies3  whenever  we  oppress 
and  persecute."  To  excite  men  to  benevolent  deeds,  it  is  not 
enough  to  overcome  inertness,  we  must  conquer  opposition. 
Mr.  Ashmun  felt  that  he  was  called  to  ACTION:  not  to  action 
limited  to  specific  and  definable  objects,  but  to  action  on  the 
human  mind,  that  glorious  element  of  power  which  rightly 
moved,  moves  on  in  progressive  majesty,  imbosoming  within 
itself  all  the  essential  fortunes  and  happiness  of  our  race.  It 
was  but  necessary  that  the  American  people  should  WILL 
Africa  to  be  free,  civilized,  and  Christian;  and  with  the 
Divine  blessing,  the  work  must  be  accomplished. 

In  matters  of  business,  he  was  not  ignorant  of  the  truth, 
so  strikingly  expressed  by  Lord  Bacon  : 

"The  ripeness  or  unripeness  of  the  occasion,  must  ever  be 
well  weighed;  and  generally  it  is  good  to  commit  the  begin- 
ning of  all  great  actions  to  Argus  with  his  hundred  eyes,  and 
the  ends  to  Briareus  with  his  hundred  hands,  first  to  watch, 
and  then  to  speed.  For  the  helmet  of  Pluto,  which  maketh 
the  politic  man  go  invisible,  is  secrecy  in  the  counsel  and  ce- 
lerity in  the  execution.  For  when  things  are  once  come  to 
the  execution,  there  is  no  secrecy  comparable  to  celerity;  like 
the  motion  of  a  bullet  in  the  air  which  flies  so  swift  as  it  out- 
runs the  sight.*"  His  system  of  operations  was  well  arranged; 

*  Men  err  in  nothing,  perhaps,  more  frequently,  than  in  their  opinions  and 
estimates  of  talents  for  business.  Few  men  are  qualified  by  original  endow- 
ments, education,  and  a  deep  insight  of  the  principles  of  human  nature,  (ac- 
quired only  by  extensive  observation  of  men  and  much  reflection,)  for  the 
higher  kinds  of  business,  such  as  depend  for  success  upon  the  popular  senti- 
ment and  will,  or  affect  great  public  interests;  and  of  course,  the  multitude 
are  very  liable  to  err  in  their  judgment  of  the  qualifications  required  for  the 
conduct  of  such  affairs.  Men  maybe  extremely  skilful  and  accurate  in  the 
details  of  business,  (very  important  in  their  place)  who  may  be  incapable  of 
comprehending  the  principles  and  relations  to  be  regarded  in  the  management 
of  extensive  and  complicated  concerns.  The  three  following  remarks  may, 
perhaps,  deserve  to  be  remembered  : 

1st.    Men  who  understand  the  principles  of  important  bnsiness,  can  never 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  255 

his  measures  had  been  adopted  with  great  deliberation,  but  to 
render  these  operations  and  measures  successful,  the  Colo- 
nists must  be  made  to  feel  their  importance  and  to  engage  in 
them  with  resolution  and  alacrity.  Their  spirit  and  energy 
seen  in  the  actual  prosperity  of  their  settlements,  would  ere- 
ate  confidence  in  the  scheme  of  Colonization  in  America,  and 
stand  an  illustrious  fact,  showing  its  wisdom  and  benevo- 
lence, which  sophisters  and  speculatists  would  be  as  impo- 
tent to  darken,  as  confute.  He  saw  that  to  inspire  the  Colo- 
nists with  those  just  and  noble  sentiments  becoming  leaders, 
who  in  the  cause  of  knowledge,  liberty,  and  religion  for  their 
race,  had  stood  forth  in  the  midst  of  daggers,  to  found  an  asy- 
lum for  their  distressed  brethren,  a  home  for  their  posterity; 
who  had  commenced  an  enterprise  designed  to  reclaim  a  con- 
tinent from  barbarism,  and  bring  its  millions  within  the  do- 
main of  Christianity,  demanded  the  immediate  and  zealous 
exercise  of  all  his  various  and  powerful  talents.  The  ardour 
of  his  soul  kindled  in  his  eye,  glowed  through  his  features, 
and  penetrated  as  with  electrick  rapidity  and  force  the  gene- 
ral mind  of  the  Colony.  At  the  head  of  this  small  communi- 
ty, formed  principally  of  unlettered  men,  some  of  them  degrad- 
ed by  their  past  condition,  widely  separated  from  the  Christian 
world,  exposed  to  the  influences  of  heathenism,  just  ushered 

(unless  criminally  negligent),  find  any  difficulty  with  the  details.  If  they  are 
not  familiar  with  the  management  of  these  details,  they  can  make  themselves 
so.  or  employ  others  who  are. 

2d.  No' error  is  more  palpable  than  that  of  those  who  estimate  more  highly 
an  acquaintance  with  the  details,  than  a  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  Busi- 
ness. It  is  like  the  mistake  of  the  Pharisees,  who  tithed  mint,  annis,  and 
cummin,  and  neglected  justice,  mercy,  and  truth.  Those  who  commit  this 
error,  will  probably  succeed  best  in  subordinate  stations,  and  if  wise,  will  not 
seek  the  control  or  direction  of  important  affairs. 

3d.  There  is,  in  a  golden  sentence  of  Lord  Bacon,  a  volume  of  wisdom  on 
the  subject  of  despatch  in  business:  "There  be  three  parts  of  business — the 
Preparation,  the  Debate  or  Examination,  and  the  Perfection;  whereof,  if  you 
look  for  despatch,  let  the  middle  only  be  the  work  of  many,  the  first  and 
last,  the  work  of  few." 


256  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

into  circumstances  adapted  to  prepare  them  for  an  independ- 
ent political  existence,  it  was  his  to  create  (we  might  almost 
say)  their  social  and  political  character;  to  plant  and  cherish 
in  their  souls  sentiments  of  honourable  action;  to  excite  in- 
dustry, enterprise,  and  courage;  to  shape  and  polish  the  rough 
materials  before  him,  and  give  to  them  order,  strength,  and 
beauty.  Not  only  must  he  administer  the  laws,  he  must  form 
the  manners  of  the  people.*  Not  only  must  he  plan  every 
public  work,  but  superintend  generally,  its  execution;  give 
orders  to  the  public  servants,  and  then  instruct  them  in  the 
nature  of  their  duties.  He  must  provide  permanent  defences 
for  the  Colony.  He  must  survey  its  Territory,  and  allot  to 
each  settler  the  farm  he  is  to  occupy  and  cultivate.  Build- 
ings are  to  be  erected  for  the  temporary-  accommodation  of 
emigrants.  Methods  and  means  of  economy  are  to  be  de- 
vised to  supply  the  deficiency^  of  the  Society's  resources,  to 
provide  subsistence  for  those  dependant  upon  its  bounty,  and 
to  command  labour  for  the  public  works,  without  endanger- 
ing the  credit  of  the  Agency.  The  system  of  Government  is 
to  be  set  and  preserved  in  operation;  courts  of  justice  estab- 
lished, in  which  the  Agent  must  preside;  ordinances  to  be 
enacted  in  relation  to  subjects  various  and  often  new;  schools 
founded;  negotiations  conducted  with  the  natives;  and 
full  .and  detailed  statements  on  all  subjects  of  interest  to 
the  Colony,  to  be  frequently  prepared  and  transmitted  to  the 
Society.  To  all  this  complex  machinery,  dependant  almost 
entirely  upon  the  mind  of  the  Agent,  must  be  added  the  con- 
cern for  the  recaptured  Africans,  involving  high  responsi- 
bilities, and  not  to  be  conducted  without  a  serious  amount  of 
care  and  labour. 

*  Manners  are  of  more  importance  than  laws.  Upon  them,  in  a  great 
measure,  the  laws  depend.  The  law  touches  us  but  here  and  there,  and  now 
and  then.  Manners  are  what  vex  or  soothe,  corrupt  or  purify,  exalt  or  debase, 
barbarize  or  refine  us,  by  a  constant,  steady,  uniform,  insensible  operation  like 
that  of  the  air  we  breathe  in  " — BURKE. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  257 

There  were  other  duties  more  private,  but  hardly  less  im- 
portant and  laborious.  He  must  be  the  friend  and  guardian 
of  the  widow,  the  orphan,  the  destitute,  the  sick,  the  neglect- 
ed; support  the  weak,  encourage  the  tirnid,  advise  the  inex- 
perienced, rebuke  the  indolent  and  perverse,  raise  up  the  fall- 
en, sympathize  with  the  disconsolate,  condescend  to  the  hum- 
blest, and  be  patient  towards  all.  And  truly  might  he  have 
adopted  the  language  of  the  Apostle,  "Who  is  weak  and  I 
am  not  weak?  Who  is  offended  and  I  bum  not?" — so  sen- 
sibly was  he  touched  with  compassion  for  the  suffering,  and 
•so  indignant  when  he  beheld  injustice  oppressing  the  inno- 
cent. 

During  the  first  month  after  their  arrival,  nearly  all  the 
emigrants  by  the  Hunter  were  attacked  by  the  fever  of  the 
climate.  A  Physician  who  was  to  have  accompanied  these 
emigrants,  had  been  detained  in  the  United  States,  and  Mr. 
Cary,  the  only  person  in  the  Colony,  who  had  any  medical 
skill  and  experience,  was  in  consequence  of  a  severe  wound, 
unable  to  leave  his  house.  The  feelings  of  Mr.  Ashmun,  in 
these  trying  circumstances,  are  expressed  in  the  following 
extract  from  his  Journal  : 

"SABBATH,  May  1st,  1825. 
"I  am  pressed  down  under  affliction.     The  hand  of  the 

<  Almighty  is  heavy  upon  us.     Death  with  a  drawn  sword 
t  hovers  over  our  little  settlement.     Several  times  weekly,  his 
1  strokes  are  heard  and  the  dead  are  multiplied  among  us. — 
1  Every  hour  we  tremble  with  the  apprehension  of  being  sum- 
i  moned  to  pay  our  last  duty  to  some  new  victim  of  the  de- 
'*  stroyer's  power.     Spare  us,  O  Lord,  spare  thy  people  from 

<  the  further  progress  of  this  sweeping  mortality.     How  long> 
1  O  Lord,  shall-  we  be  consumed  forever?    Spare  these  thy 
'  sheep,  O  thou  tender  Shepherd,  and  destroy  them  not  utter- 
:  ly.     We  acknowledge  thy  tremendous  and  resistless  pow- 
6  er:  our  flesh  trem\>leth  exceedingly  for  fear  of  Thee,  and  we 

33 


258 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


*  arc  afraid  of  thy  judgments.     Now  Lord,  let  thy  mercy 
'  visit  us.     O  show  us  the  tenderness  of  thy  love  and  the 
1  riches  of  thy  .  grace.      Sanctify  these,  thy  severe  correc- 
'  tions,  to  our  profitable  advancement,  in  the  fear  and  faith  of 

*  Thee,  and  let  the  past,  through  thy  effectual  blessing,  suf- 
1  fice.     This  favour,  I  supplicate,  O  most  holy  God,  with  en- 
1  tire  submission  to  thy  infinite  and  superior  wisdom,  and 

*  in  the  name  alone  of  my  heavenly  Intercessor — who  to  save 
<  our  souls  and  our  bodies  from  eternal  death,  has  died  him- 

*  self  for  us.     Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to 
1  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  it  was  in  the  beginning,  is  now,  and  ever 
1  shall  be,  world  without  end.     Amen." 

The  disease  proved  less  severe  than  was  expected,  and  was 
confined  in  its  fatal  effects  almost  exclusively  to  children  un- 
der seven  years  of  age.  On  the  15th  of  June,  1825,  he  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  the  Board,  stating  the  condition  of  the  emi- 
grants by  the  Hunter,  and  his  opinion  that  a  large  amount  of 
suffering  might  have  been  prevented  by  a  Receptacle  on  the 
plan  he  had  before  recommended,  "by  a  humane  Physician 
and  a  Hospital  under  proper  regulations."  "The  Board  can- 
1  not,"  he  adds,  "I  will  venture  to  believe,  omit  to  provide  with 

*  the  next  shipment  from  home,  these  necessary  means  of  pre- 
'  serving  the  health  and  lives  of  those  confiding  individuals, 
1  who,  in  so  great  a  measure,  commit  their  earthly  prospects 
'  and  happiness  to  its  disposal." 

In  the  month  of  April,  he  had  accurately  surveyed  the 
Montserado  Territory,  and  described  it  on  a  map  for  the  use 
of  the  Society.  He  was  occupied  about  a  week  on  this  ob- 
ject, and  in  consequence  of  his  observations  then  made,  was 
convinced  that  possession  must  be  acquired  of  a  more  fertile 
Territory,  or  the  Agriculture  of  the  Colony  could  not  prosper. 
Hence  his  anxiety  to  obtain  a  tract  of  land  on  the  St.  Paul's 
river,  was  great.  "My  heart,"  he  observes,  "is  entirely  set  on 
'  the  acquisition  of  this  Territory,  and  I  fear  I  should  want 
1  grace  to  carry  myself  with  Christian  propriety  in  the  event 


LIFE    OF    ASIIMUN.  259 

c  of  a  disappointment."*  He  resolved  to  urge  negotiations 
with  the  Chiefs,  in  order  to  obtain  it,  with  all  possible  vigour. 
For  five  days  he  remained  at  a  native  town  waiting  their  tar- 
dy movements.  The  successful  result  of  his  zeal  and  enter- 
prise, is  told  in  our  last  chapter.  His  exertions  and  exposure 
affected  his  health:  repeated  attacks  of  fever, t  warned  him  of 
his  danger;  and  finding  towards  the  close  of  May,  his 
strength  and  constitution  extremely  impaired  by  his  con- 
finement and  the  climate,  he  resolved,  as  soon  as  his 
presence  could  be  spared  at  the  Colony,  to  return  to  the  U. 
States.  All  personal  considerations  were,  however,  surpassed 
in  his  mind  by  a  concern  for  the  interests  of  the  Colony,  and 
although  he  might  have  embarked  for  America  in  June,  he 
did  not  then  feel  at  liberty  to  retire,  even  for  a  few  months, 
from  his  post. 

"A  three  years'  residence  (he  observes  in  his  letter  to  the 
1  Board)  on  this  torrid  coast,  has  produced  a  general  lassitude 
1  and  debility  of  the  system  from  which  nothing  but  a  change 

<  of  climate  can  restore  me:   and  in  consenting  to  forego  the 

*  present  opportunity  to  revisit  the  United  States,  I  make  a 

<  sacrifice  of  personal  considerations  to  a  sense  of  duty  and 

*  regard  to  the  welfare  of  the  settlement,  to  which  nothing 

*  but  the  consolation  of  a  good  conscience,  could  reconcile 

<  me.     For,  thank  Heaven,  through  the  justice  of  Govern- 
1  ment,  I  am  now  in  a  situation  to  discharge  all  my  pecunia- 

*  ry  obligations  to  my  fellow-men,  and  which  I  trust  will  be 

*  He  adds,  "I  desire  with  all  humility  and  submission,  to  commit  the  issue 
of  this  undertaking  to  Him  whose  wisdom  is  infinite,  and  who  may  see  in 
the  desired  success,  the  destruction  of  our  Colony,  for  any  thing  I  know,  and 
whose  favourable  intentions  in  regard  to  it,  may  be  hereafter  demonstrated, 
in  the  frustration  of  my  fondest  hopes." 

f  Having  mentioned  the  fever,  he  observes:  "During  my  unpleasant  stay 
in  the  country,  about  the  first  of  this  month,  I  began  to  be  afflicted  with  an 
ulceration  of  the  legs  and  ankles,  very  common  both  to  the  natives  and  stran- 
gers of  this  country.  These  eruptions  are  not  very  painful,  but  very  difficult 
to  cure." 


260 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN, 


'  done  in  a  few  weeks;  and  restored  to  a  state  of  indepen- 
1  dence,  I  can  judge  of  the  motives  of  my  conduct,  with  less 
*  danger  of  error  than  before.7-1 

Mr.  Ashmun  knew  that  a  grateful  people  will  rejoice  to 
celebrate  those  signal  events  of  Providence  by  which  they 
have  been  freed  from  fearful  evils,  or  made  to  share  in  bless- 
ings of  uncommon  value.  The  Anniversary  of  American 
Independence;  the  17th  of  May,  the  day  on  which  land  was 
first  ceded  to  the  American  settlers,  by  the  Chiefs  of  the 
country;  and  the  2d  of  December,  memorable  for  the  final  re- 
pulse of  the  barbarians,  when  combined  to  destroy  the  Colo- 
ny, are  religiously  observed  by  the  citizens  of  Liberia.*  Af- 
ter a  discourse  in  one  of  the  churches,  the  officers  of  the  Co- 
lony were  accustomed  on  these  occasions  to  drne  together, 
and  encouraged  by  the  presence  of  Mr.  Ashmun,  who  sought 
to  throw  an  air  of  cheerfulness  over  even  serious  duties,  and 
to  plant  a  generous  regard  for  the  public  good  amidst  the  so- 
cial affections,  t 

*  This  name  was,  on  motion  of  General  Robert  Goodloe  Harper,  given  to 
<the  Territory  of  the  Society  in  Africa,  at  its  Seventh  Annual  Meeting.  The 
principal  town  in  the  Colony,  was,  at  the  same  time,  called  Monrovia,  in  hon- 
our of  the  late  President  Monroe,  an  early  and  efficient  friend  of  the  Society. 

f  "Toasts  drank  at  the  dinner  given  by  the  Monrovia  Volunteers,  July 
4th.  1825: 

"1st.  The  present  President  of  the  United  States:  The  champion  of  the  peo- 
pled rights — he  deserves  the  people's  honours. 

•"2<1.  The  day  we  commemorate— (prefaced  with  an  explanatory  address 
by  the  Agent.) 

"3d.  Tfte  Colony  of  Liberia:  May  the  history  of  the  nation  which  has 
founded  it,  become  its  own. 

"4th.  Africa:  May  it  outstrip  its  oppressors  in  the  race  of  liberty,  intel- 
ligence, and  piety. 

5th.  "The  Heroes  and  Statesmen  of  American  Independence:  They  fought 
;and  legislated  for  the  human  race;  and  struggled  more  to  subvert  the  princi- 
ples.than  the  power  oij  their  oppressors.  Even  the  people  of  England  arc 
freer  and  happier  for  their  labours, 

The  Monrovia  Independent  Volunteers:  Armed  for  the  defence  of  right? 
which  it  is  the  trade  of  war  to  destroy:  Never  may  they  forget  their  character. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  .  261 

He  thought  that  to  consider,  at  stated  periods,  what  the 
Friends  of  God  and  man  had  achieved  in  other  countries, 
might  rouse  the  Colonists  to  emulate  their  deeds;  that  to 
meditate  on  the  Providence  which  had  so  remarkably  de- 
fended them  in  times  past,  might  dispose  them  more  confi- 
dently to  trust  for  the  future  to  its  protection.  He  felt  the 
importance  of  cherishing  among  the  settlers  the  domestic 
and  social  virtues,  assured  that  he  who  is  an  honour  to  his 
family,  will  be  such  to  his  country;  and  that  mutual  confi- 
dence between  citizens,  is  the  strong  bond  of  the  State. 

At  this  period,  the  slave  trade  was  carried  on  extensively 
within  sight  of  Monrovia.  From  eight  to  ten,  and  even  fif- 
teen vessels  were  engaged  at  the  same  time  in  this  odious 
traffic,  almost  under  the  guns  of  the  settlement;  and  in  July 
of  this  year,  "contracts  were  existing  for  eight  hundred  slaves 
to  be  furnished  in  the  short  space  of  four  months,  \yithin 
eight  miles  of  the  Cape.  Four  hundred  of  these  were  to  be 
purchased  for  two  American  traders.  During  the  same  sea- 
son, a  boat  belonging  to  a  Frenchman,  having  on  board  twen- 
ty-six slaves,  all  in  irons,  was  upset  in  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Paul's,  and  twenty  of  their  number  perished".  "This  is  one 

"7th.  General  Lafayette  in  America:  A  veteran  in  the  cause  of  civil  and 
religious  freedom.  We  join  with  our  native  countiy  in  honouring  him — not 
because  we  are  Americans,  but  because  we  are  men. 

("In  politeness  to  our  guest,  Captain  Ferbin:) 

"8th.    His  Britannic  Majesty— the  Constitutional  King  of  England. 

"9th.     Success  to  Agriculture. 

("By  Captain  Ferbin,  prefaced  with  a  few  appropriate  remarks:) 

"The  health  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  prosperity  to  the  Co- 
lony of  Liberia." 

"The  day  was  observed  as  in  the  United  States:  at  day-break  a  gun — at  sun- 
rise the  United  States'  flag  was  hoisted,  and  a  national  salute  fired  with  great 
precision.  At  ten  a  discourse  was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Waring — and  at 
three,  p.  M,  a  dinner,  consisting  chiefly  of  the  productions  of  Africa,  and  pro- 
Tided  by  the  Monrovia  Volunteers,  was  served  to  more  than  fifty  persons; — 
two  cases  of  drunkenness  occurred  at  night,  of  which  the  Justices  took  due 
cognizance  the  next  morning." — Jlshmun's  Journal. 


262  LIFE    OF   ASHMtJN. 

of  the  lesser  scenes  of  tragedy,"  said  Mr.  Ashmun,  "which 
are  daily  acting  in  this  wretched  country."  We  are  not  left 
to  conjecture  how  keenly  he  felt  the  wrongs  and  outrage  in- 
flicted on  humanity  by  this  trade,  nor  how  hardly  he  brooked 
the  law  inhibiting  the  American  citizen  from  disturbing  this 
abominable  commerce  as  prosecuted  under  the  flag,  and  by 
the  citizens  of  a  foreign  power. 

"The  purchase  money  of  two  hundred  slaves,"  he  remarks, 
(July  18,  1825,)  "'has,  during  this  week,  been  landed  in  our 
1  waters,  to  the  incalculable  detriment  of  the  Colony,  and  dis- 

*  grace,  shall  I  say,  of  our  American  Government,  or  of  hu- 

*  man  nature.     The  Colony  only  wants  the  right,  it  has  the 
'  power,  to  expel  this  traffic  to  a  distance,  and  force  it  at  least 
f  to  conceal  some  of  its  worst  enormities."    He  at  the  same 
time  expressed  the  deepest  regret,  that  the  influence  of  the  Co- 
lony for  the  suppression  of  this  trade,  was  nearly  at  an  end, 
since  those  who  were  engaged  in  it  on  both  sides,  could, 
notwithstanding  the  protests  of  the  Colonists  against  it,  effect 
their  atrocious  designs  with  impunity. 

In  this  state  of  things,  he  resolved  to  explore  the 
whole  line  of  coast  from  Cape  Mount  to  Trade  Town,  and 
to  bring,  if  possible,  by  treaties  with  the  Chiefs,  this  entire 
extent  of  country  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Colony.  He 
was  confident  the  Colony  would  derive  from  such  an  exten- 
sion of  authority,  important  commercial  and  other  advanta- 
ges; and  that  it  would  be  thereby  enabled  to  banish  the  slave 
trade  from  that  part  of  Africa. 

The  result  of  his  inquiries  and  examinations  was,  that 
though  on  this  tract  some  points  might  be  more  eligible  for 
foreigners  than  others,  yet  nearly  every  portion  was  rich  in 
soil,  and  other  natural  advantages,  and  "capable  of  sustaining 
a  numerous  and  civilized  population,  beyond  almost  any 
country  on  earth."  "Leaving  the  sea-board,"  he  observes, 
"  the  traveller,  every  where  at  the  distance  of  a  very  few 
c  miles,  enters  upon  an  uniform  upland  country  of  moderate 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  263 

*  elevation,  intersected  by  innumerable  rivulets,  abounding  in 
'  springs  of  unfailing  water,  and  covered  with  a  verdure  which 
'  knows  no  other  changes  except  those  that  refresh  and  renew 
'  its  beauties.     The  country  directly  on  the  sea,   although 
'  verdant  and  fruitful  in  a  high  degree,  is  found  every  where 

*  to  yield  in  both  respects  to  the  interior.     And  what  I  con- 
'  sider  remarkable,  the  average  heat  lessens  in  a  very  sensi- 
'  ble  degree  in  the  proportion  of  the  distance  from  the  sea 
'  coast.     Its  salubrity,  depending  in  part  on  the  same  causes 
1  which  moderate  the  heat,  may  (and  I  believe  facts  prove  it 
1  does)  improve  in  the  same  degree.     The  same  difference 

'  in  regard  both  to  the  healthiness  and  temperature,  seems  to- 
1  distinguish  the  sea-boards  and  interior  of  this  country, 
'  which  is  remarked  in  all  the  American  States  South  of  Ma- 
1  ryland,  and  probably  will  in  time  be  traced  to  similar 
{  causes." 

In  the  month  of  August,  before  any  arrangements^were 
finally  concluded  for  enlarging  the  Colonial  possessions,  a 
flagrant  piracy  was  perpetrated  by  the  crew  of  a  Spanish 
schooner,  (the  Clarida)  employed  in  the  slave  trade,  on  an 
English  brig  lying  at  anchor  off  the  town' of  Monrovia.  Mr. 
Ashmun  resolved,  in  discharge  of  duty  to  the  interests  arid 
safety  of  the  Colony,  no  less  than  in  obedience  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  natural  law,  to  inflict  punishment  on  the  offenders, 
and  rescue  from  their  rapacity  such  unfortunate  Africans  as 
were,  or  must  soon  be,  within  their  merciless  grasp.  Ample 
testimony  was  taken  at  the  Colony  to  prove  the  piracy.  The 
English  brig  was  placed  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Ashmun. 
The  Colonial  Militia  were  ready  to  accompany  him  in  an 
expedition  against  the  Factory  of  the  Spaniard.  The  Chiefs 
of  the  country  were  assured  that  the  military  movements 
they  might  witness,  were  not  to  be  directed  against  them- 
selves, but  were  intended  to  vindicate  insulted  justice,  and 
the  dishonoured  rights  of  human  nature.  Mr.  Ashmun  em- 
barked in  the  brig  with  twenty-two  Volunteers,  while  Cap- 


264 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


tain  Barbour  at  the  head  of  twenty-five  men,  proceeded  with 
written  instructions  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Factory  at  Digby, 
(a  little  to  the  North  of  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Paul's,)  and  there 
awaited  the  orders  of  the  Agent.  The  Spanish  schooner 
was  not  to  be  found;  the  Factory  with  several  Spaniards  be- 
longing to  her,  (but  who  it  was  proved  were  on  shore  when 
the  piracy  was  committed,)  a  small  amount  of  property,  and  a 
number  of  slaves,  were  captured  without  resistance.  The 
Spaniards  were  dismissed;  while  the  native  Chiefs  bound 
themselves  to  assist,  in  no  way,  in  the  collecting  or  transpor- 
tation out  of  the  country  of  any  of  the  slaves  bargained  for  by 
the  commander  of  the  Clarida. 

"In  this  little  expedition,"  said  Mr.  Ashmun  in  his  letter- 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  "it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to 
f. state,  that  not  a  musket  was  fired — not  one  untoward  ac- 

*  cident  occurred — not  a  single  point  of  duty  was  neglected 
i  by  tffe  officers — not  an  instance  of  disorderly  conduct  was 
i  witnessed  among  the  fifty-four  men,  who  composed  the 
1  force  employed  on  the  occasion.     The  order  for  respecting 
<  the  persons  and  property  of  the  natives,  was  so  punctually 
'  obeyed,  that  by  their  own  declaration  and  to  their  utter  as- 
i  tonishment,  not  a  fowl  nor  a  plantain  was  taken — nor  even 
1  a  hut  entered  (except  with  consent)  by  the  Colonists,  even 
6  in  Yellow  Will's  town,  which  was  entirely  deserted  by  the 
1  inhabitants — and  in  which  the  .whole  body  encamped  for 
x  forty-eight  hours. 

"I  have,  since  my  return,  already  received  from  several  of 
1  the  country  Chiefs,  deputations  conveying  their  thanks  for 
1  these  substantial  proofs  of  my  friendly  dispositions  towards 
1  themselves,  even  when  it  became  necessary  to  carry  the 
'  arms  of  the  settlement  into  the  he  ir  country.  The 

*  policy  which  in  the  face  of  sonic  sneers  and  opposition,  I 
1  have  uniformly  pursued  wilh  iiu;  people  of  this  country  for 
c  the  last  iour  years,  is  that  of  justice,  mildness,  and  firmness. 
i  And  its  success  has  been  complete,     i  never  menaced  them 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  265 

*  with  an  empty  or  unnecessary  threat,  and  they  know  I  have 

*  never,  in  a  single  instance,  forfeited  my  word.     Nor  do  I 
1  believe  that  while  a  similar  policy  is  persisted  in,  on  the  part 
4  of  this  establishment^  any  reasonable  demand  made  by  it 
c  upon  the  native  inhabitants  will  be  refused.    The  Hon.  Sec- 
1  retary  will  perceive,  that  in  these  remarks,  I  have  in  view, 
'  the  introduction  of  a  measure  on  the  part  of  the  United 
'  States,  for  the  entire  abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  with  the 
4  concurrence  of  the  native  Chiefs,  along  a  given  line  of  coast 
4  contiguous  to  this  Agency.     But  the  particulars  of  this  plan 
6 1  beg  leave  to  defer  to  a  distinct  communication.     The  ob- 
4  ject,  if  it  can  obtain  the  sanction  of  the  United  States'  Go- 
1  vernment,  is  practicable,  and  all  the  means  necessary  to  ef- 
4  feet  it,  are  on  the  spot.     Nor  can  I,  in  closing  this  communi- 
4  cation,  suppress  the  mortifying  fact,  that  whenever  the  Ame- 
4  rican  flag  is  displayed  at  this  Agency,  it  literally  waves 
4  over,  and  I  can  almost  add,  affords  protection  to  a  slave 
4  factory,  established  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood.     In 
*  the  short  expedition  just  reported,  it  was  with  a  sentiment 
4  of  indignation  and  mortification  equally  idle  and  humiliating; 
1  that  I  was  obliged  to  conduct  the  little  force  under  my  com- 
1  mand  past  two  slave  factories,  of  which  the  most  distant  is  only 
1  five  miles  from  the  Cape.     We  heard  the  clanking  of  fetters 

4  as  we  marched  along,  and  were  annoyed  with  the  groans  of 
1  human  beings  who  had  lost  their  freedom  without  their 
1  fault;  but  as  these  tyrants,  who  regarded  us  with  folded 
1  arms  and  a  lear  of  barbarous  exultation,  had  not  commit- 
4  ted  piracy,  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  interfere  for  the  relief 
'  of  the  one,  or  the  punishment  of  the  other."* 

A  collusive  plan  entered  into  by  the  Captain  of  the  Clarida, 
some  of  the  native  Chiefs  and  a  French  slave  dealer  on  the 
St.  Paul's,  for  violating  the  engagement  by  which  the  slaves 
originally  destined  for  the  Pirate,  were  to  be  delivered  over 

*  Appendix  No.  9. 

3d 


266  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

to  the  Colony,  induced  Mr.  Ashmun  to  break  up  two  other 
slave  factories,  and  to  offer  to  the  Chiefs  concerned  in  trans- 
actions with  the  Clarida,  a  bounty  of  ten  dollars  for  each 
slave,  which  in  pursuance  of  their  agreement,  they  should  re- 
sign up  to  the  Colonial  Agent.  The  consequence  of  this 
was,  that  one  hundred  and  sixteen  slaves  were  soon  received 
as  freemen  into  the  bosom  of  the  Colony.* 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1825,  Mr.  Ashmun  presented  to  the 
Managers  a  complete  view  of  the  condition,  relations,  charac- 
ter, and  prospects  of  the  Colony.  He  stated  that  health  had 
been  for  some  months  restored;  that  adults  resident  for  some 
time  in  Africa,  preferred  its  climate  to  any  other,  and  enjoyed 
as  good  health  as  in  America:  The  Government  had  proved 
efficient  and  popular;  the  laws  were  venerated  and  obeyed; 
the  sentiments  of  the  people  had  been  purified  and  elevated, 
and  with  some  exceptions  they  could  detect  as  readily  and 
condemn  as  sincerely  any  deviation  from  the  line  of  moral 

*  The  conscientious  regard  to  justice  manifested  by  Mr.  Ashmun  in  his 
conduct  towards  the  natives,  was  clearly  exhibited  about  this  time,  in  the  ad- 
justment of  a  difference  which  had  arisen  between  the  Colony  and  certain 
Krooinen  residing  in  a  small  town  near  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Paul's.  A  dar- 
ing robbery  had  been  committed  by  one  of  these  men  upon  public  property 
of  the  Colony,  which  had  been  entrusted  to  one  of  the  settlers.  These  Kroo- 
men  had  previously  been  guilty  of  violating  the  rights  of  the  settlement.  A 
detachment  of  the  Colonial  Militia  of  the  Colony,  were  directed  to  proceed  to 
their  town  and  demand  redress — but  to  use  no  force  unless  the  offer  for  a 
peaceful  settlement  of  difficulties  should  be  rejected.  As  this  party  entered 
the  town,  two  or  three  of  them  fell  in  the  rear  of  the  others,  and  one  of  their 
number  fired  upon  and  fatally  wounded  a  Krooman.  He  was  indicted  and 
tried  by  a  jury  for  murder  in  the  second  degree.  The  trial  continued  for  three 
days,  and  finally  resulted  in  a  conviction  of  manslaughter,  (it  being  proved 
that  the  accused  had  acted  from  sudden  impulse  and  a  misapprehension  of  or- 
ders and  not  from  malice,)  and  the  guilty  individual  was  sentenced  to  six 
months'  imprisonment,  or  to  a  fine  of  one  hundred  bars,  which  sum  was  paid 
over  to  the ,  friends  of  the  deceased.  The  affair  was  settled  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  whole  Kroo  nation.  "The  blood  that  has  flown,"  said  Mr. 
Ashmun,  on  this  occasion,  "has  been  a  cause  of  greater  pain  to  me,  than  the 
torrents  shed  in  our  hostilities  in  1822;  because  the  former,  differently  from 
the  latter,  has  left  the  appearance  of  a  stain  on  the  character  of  the  Colony." 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  267 

integrity  and  civil  justice  as  any  other  body  of  people  in  the 
world:  the  fertile  lands  on  the  St.  Paul's,  already  occupied 
by  a  small  company  of  settlers,  opened  the  best  prospects  for 
agriculture:  the  settlers  generally  lived  in  a  style  of  neat- 
ness and  comfort,  approaching  to  elegance  in  many  instances, 
unknown  before  their  arrival  in  that  country:  not  an  inter- 
esting family  twelve  months  in  Africa,  but  had  means  of  fur- 
nishing a  comfortable  table;  not  an  individual,  he  believed, 
without  an  ample  provision  of  decent  apparel  could  be  found: 
every  family  (and  nearly  every  adult  emigrant)  was  able  to 
employ  from  one  to  four  native  labourers  at  an  expense  of 
from  four  to  six  dollars  a  month:  the  labour  of  mechanics 
was  worth  two  dollars — that  of  common  labourers  from  sev- 
enty-five cents  to  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  a  day: 
trade  was  valuable,  the  Colony  free  from  debt,  and  all  the 
people  successfully  engaged  in  constructing  their  houses, 
clearing  their  plantations,  adding  to  the  means  and  devel- 
oping the  sources  of  private  and  public  prosperity.  He  rep- 
resented that  several  important  public  buildings  had  been 
commenced,  and  that  some  of  them  were  nearly  completed; 
that  during  the  latter  half  of  the  year,  two  commodious  and 
beautiful  chapels,  each  sufficient  to  contain  several  hun- 
dred worshippers,  had  been  erected  and  consecrated  to  the 
Christian's  God;  that  a  battery  had  been  planned  near  the 
termination  of  the  Cape,  which  finished,  must  effectually  pro- 
tect vessels  in  the  harbour;  that  he  had  built  and  put  upon 
the  rice  trade,  between  Cape  Montserado  arid  the  Factories, 
to  the  leeward,  a  small  schooner,  adapted  to  the  passage  of 
the  bars  of  the  rivers  on  that  part  of  the  coast;  that  the  Mili- 
tia of  the  settlement  was  well  organized,  equipped,  and  dis- 
ciplined; that  in  addition  to  the  invaluable  tract  of  country 
purchased  on  the  St.  Paul's,  the  right  of  occupancy  and  use 
had  been  obtained  to  lands  at  the  Young  Sesters  and  at 
Grand  Bassa;  that  Factories  had  been  established  at  both 
these  places;  that  five  Schools,  exclusive  of  Sunday  schools, 


368  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

were  in  operation,  find  the  youth  and  children  of  the  Colony 
discovered  for  their  age  unequivocal  proofs  of  a  good  degree 
of  mental  accomplishment.  He  declared  that  the  moral  cha- 
racter of  the  Colonists  was  generally  good;  that  there  was  a 
powerful  preponderance  of  example  and  of  influence  on  the 
side  of  moral  virtue;  that  the  Colony  was  in  deed  and  reality 
a  Christian  community.  He  observes  : 

"The  holy  Author  of  our  religion  and  salvation,  has  made 
'  the  hearts  of  a  large  portion  of  these  people,  the  temples  of 
'  the  Divine  Spirit.  The  faith  of  the  everlasting  gospel,  with 
1  an  evidence  and  strength  which  nothing  short  of  the  power 
1  of  the  Almighty  can  produce  or  sustain,  has  become  the 
{  animating  spring  of  action,  the  daily  rule  of  life,  the  source 
1  of  immortal  hope  and  ineffable  enjoyment,  to  a  large  propor- 
1  tion  of  your  Colonists.  God  is  known  in  His  true  charac- 
c  ter — His  worship  is  celebrated  in  its  purity — the  doctrines 
'  of  salvation  are  received  in  their  genuine  simplicity,  by  very 
c  many.  Occurrences  of  a  favourable  or  depressing  aspect 
'  are  regarded  as  dispensations  of  the  Almighty,  and  followed 
(  with  correspondent  feelings  of  gratitude  or  humiliation. — 
'  Tears  of  affectionate  joy  or  sorrow  are  often  seen  to  flow  in 
1  the  house  of  God,  from  hearts  silently  melting  under  the 
1  searching  influence  of  His  word.  I  have  seen  the  proudest 
1  and  profanest  foreigners  that  ever  visited  the  Colony,  tremb- 
4  ling  with  amazement  and  conviction,  almost  literally  in  the 
'  descriptive  phraseology  of  St.  Paul,  '  Find  the  secrets  of 
1  their  hearts  made  manifest,  and  falling  down  upon  their 
*  faces,  worship  God,  and  report  that  God  is  in  the  midst7  of 
1  this  people  '  of  a  truth.' 

"These  facts  I  have  judged  it  my  duty  to  state,  to  the  praise 
'  of  that  God  to  whom  we  are  entirely  indebted  for  so  precious 
t  a  testimony  of  His  favour, — and  for  the  information  of  thou- 
'  sands  in  the  United  States,  to  whose  prayers  and  pious  at- 
1  tendons  we  may,  under  the  Most  High,  refer  it.  I  am  not 
4  insensible  of  the  delicacy  and  responsibility  attending  the 


LfFE    OF    ASHMUN.  269 

*  publication  of  a  statement  of  this  nature;  and  of  the  great 
1  danger  a  more  cautious  pen  than  mine  might  incur,  of  com- 
<  municatino-  on  it,  either  too  little  or  too  much.     But  as  the 

o  7 

'  grand  secret  of  the  improving  circumstances  of  this  Colony, 
'  — of  the  respect  it  commands  without,  and  of  the  happiness, 
1  order  and  industry  which  reign  within  it, — is  wrapped  up 
'  in  the  controlling  influence  of  religion  on  the  temper  and 
'  habits  of  the  people;  I  should  greatly  wrong  the  cause  of 
1  truth,  by  suppressing,  or  too  lightly  passing  by,  a  topic  of 

*  such  leading  importance.     The  precious  hopes  of  an  immor- 

*  tality  of  vigorous  and  beatific  existence  in  the  presence  of 
'  God  and  the  Redeemer,  are  no  inefficient  principles  of  ac- 
'  tion  and  of  happiness  in  the  human  mind,  even  in  the  midst 

*  of  this  mixed  and  tumultuous  life:  and  they  have  attended 
1  and  sustained  a  large  number  whom  Providence  has  taken 
i  from  us,  till  they  passed  rejoicing,  the  limits  of  mortality, ' 
(  and  left  us  in  tears.     Many  more  are  now  waiting,  full  of 

*  the  same  '  glorious  hopes,'  for  the  final  summons  of  their 
'  Heavenly  Master.     And  shall  it  ever  be,  that  a  torrent  of 
'  infidelity,  heresy,  or  irreligion,  shall,  in  judgment  for  our 

*  ingratitude,  find  its  way  from  the  dark  caverns  of  hell  to 
'  this  consecrated  retreat  of  the  humble  worshippers  of  God; 
1  and  convert  to  a  moral  waste,  a  young  plantation  which  He 

*  condescends  himself  to  water  and  to  keep  !" 

He  testified  to  the  good  effects  of  the  Colony  on  the  neigh- 
bouring tribes.  They  had  been  treated  as  men  and  brethren 
of  a  common  family;  they  had  been  taught  that  one  of  the 
ends  proposed  in  founding  civilized  settlements  on  their  shore, 
was  to  do  them  good;  sixty  of  their  children  had  been  adopt- 
ed as  children  of  the  Colony;  they  had  learnt  something  of 
the  great  and  interesting  truths  of  the  Christian  Religion;  that 
the  friends  of  this  Religion,  in  another  and  distant  country, 
were  deeply  concerned  to  promote  their  happiness,  and  that 
the  strangers  (many  of  them  at  least),  who  had  come  from 
that  country  to  reside  with  them,  were  men  of  justice  and  be- 


270  LIFE    OF    ASHMUlf. 

nevolence.  "Our  influence  over  them,"  said  Mr.  Ashmun, 
"  is  unbounded — it  is  increasing — it  is  more  extensive  than 
i  I  dare  at  this  early  period,  risk  my  character  for  veracity  by 

*  asserting.     On  several  occasions  of  alarm  from  the  interior, 

*  the   whole  population  of  the  country  has  been  ready  to 
1  throw  itself  into  our  arms  for  protection.     No  man  of  the 
1  least  consideration  in  the  country,  will  desist  from  his  im- 
1  portunities,  till  at  least  one  of  his  sons  is  fixed  in  some  set- 
'  tier's  family." 

The  Colony  had  checked  in  that  part  of  Africa  the  preva- 
lence of  the  slave  trade;  indeed  it  might  be  confidently  said, 
had  banished  it  from  that  district  of  the  coast.  Between  Cape 
Mount  and  Trade  Town,  a  line  of  one  hundred  and  forty 
miles,  not  a  slave  trader  dared  to  attempt  his  guilty  traffic. 
A  moral  feeling  was  at  work  in  the  minds  of  the  natives,  de- 
rived from  intercourse  with  the  Colony,  against  this  detestable 
commerce. 

Nor  did  Mr.  Ashmun  fail,  on  this  occasion,  to  appeal  with 
all  possible  earnestness  to  the  friends  of  Africa  in  behalf  of 
education,  inquiring  whether  minds  as  capable  of  moral  and 
intellectual  elevation,  as  those  of  any  other  people  on  earth, 
were  to  be  doomed,  "in  perpetuity,  to  an  involuntary  deten- 
tion on  the  very  threshold  of  knowledge?"  "Where,"  said 
he,  "are  the  youthful  philanthropists  of  my  country?  In 

*  what  have  those  loud  professions  of  zeal  in  the  great  cause 
'  of  human  happiness,  of  civilization  and  freedom,  which  I 
'  once  heard  from  a  thousand  mouths,  resulted — to  say  rioth- 
( ing  of  that  Christian  charity,  which,  when  I  left  the  United 

*  States,  appeared  to  pour  floods  of  tears  over  the  moral  abase- 
1  ment  of  the  African  race?     Are  we  to  expect  in  vain  from 

*  the  thousand  seminaries  and  fountains  of  knowledge  in  that 
i  favoured  country,  a  single  young  man  or  woman  of  suffi- 

*  cient  enterprise  and  generosity  to  conduct  the  sacred  stream 
<  to  this  Colony?" 

"To  the  lasting  honour,"  (he  adds  near  the  conclusion,) 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  271 

"  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  it  has  founded  a  new 
'  empire  on  this  continent,  of  which  the  basis  is  Christianity, 
1  intelligence,  and  rational  liberty; — has  conducted  it  happily 
'  through  the  perilous  stages  of  its  inception  and  early 
'  growth; — has  seen  its  members  in  the  full  possession  of  the 
'  means  of  acquiring  the  comforts  of  life,  and  sustaining 
1  against  any  anticipated  opposition,  the  stand  to  which  they 
'  are  advanced.  The  Society  has  demonstrated  experimen- 
'  tally  to  the  world,  the  soundness  of  the  views  with  which 
1  they  appeared  before  it  in  1817-18,  without  funds,  patrori- 
c  age,  or  a  precedent  in  the  annals  of  the  human  race.  And 
'  in  having  achieved  so  much,  it  has,  in  my  opinion,  compass- 
1  ed  the  special  design  of  its  institution;  and  must,  from  this 
c  period,  resign  up  the  great  work  of  Colonization,  considered 
1  as  an  object  of  national  benefit,  to  the  national  patronage."* 
Perhaps  Mr.  Ashmun  underrated  the  good  to  be  done  by  the 
single  operations  of  the  Society.  But  in  the  writer's  opinion, 
he  did  not  over-estimate  the  importance  of  endeavours  to  se- 
cure to  the  cause  of  African  Colonization,  the  powers  and  re- 
sources of  the  nation.  If  such  endeavours  were  important 
then,  they  are  more  important  now.  The  policy  of  the  So- 
ciety cannot  remain  much  longer  unsettled  on  this  subject, 
if  indeed  it  be  not  settled  by  the  very  terms  of  its  Constitution. 
The  founders  of  the  Society  intended  and  expected  that  the 
plan  they  submitted,  should  become  a  national  plan;  they  be- 
lieved as  patriotic,  just  and  benevolent,  it  had  merits  which 
must  unite  in  its  support  a  Christian  nation.  Such  a  nation 

*  African  Repository,  Vol.  2d,  pages  72-99. — Mr.  Ashmun  at  the  same 
time,  after  some  calculations  in  regard  to  the  expenses  of  the  Colony  and  So- 
ciety, and  the  probable  income  of  the  latter,  (the  income  has  exceeded  the 
amount  predicted  by  him,)  says,  "to  me,  the  alternative  appears  inevitable, 
either  that  the  United  States,  or  a  sufficient  number  of  individual  States,  must 
immediately  adopt  and  effectually  patronize  with  its  undivided  influence,  and 
its  revenues,  the  Colony  of  Liberia,  or  that  its  progress  is,  from  the  present 
time,  (considered  as  an  instrument  of  national  benefit  to  the  United  States,  or 
of  extensive  advantage  to  the  African  race,)  AT  AN  END." 


272  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

owes  high  duties  to  itself  and  to  mankind.     It  cannot  con- 
sistently neglect  means  afforded  by  Providence  for  exalting 
its  character,  or  for  exhibiting  to  other  nations  the  excellency 
of  the  principles  which  constitute  its  happiness,  its  strength, 
and  its  glory.     The  Divine  Law  by  extending  its  authority 
over  the  universal  conduct  of  individuals,  becomes  the  moral 
bond  of  political  society;  and  to  say  that  Government  among 
Christians,  is  or  can  be  free  from  religious  obligation,  is  a  so- 
lecism.    If  to  provide  for  and  educate  his  children,  be  the  du- 
ty of  a  parent,  is  it  less  clearly  the  duty  of  a  Christian  nation 
to  provide  for  the  happiness  of  any  unfortunate  class  of  its  in- 
habitants, and  should  uncontrollable  circumstances  or  the 
public  safety  forbid  their  incorporation  with  the  political  bo- 
dy where  they  reside,  to  assist  them  in  removing  to  a  land 
(if  such  can  be  found),  in  which  they  may  enjoy  the  means 
of  improvement  without  restraint  in  their  use  or  limit  to  their 
advantage?     And  could  the  character  of  a  civilized  and  Chris- 
tian people  be  more  ennobled  than  by  the  adoption  of  mea- 
sures for  the  instruction  and  reformation  of  the  uncivilized  and 
unchristian?     Such  a  people  will  select  the  best  instruments 
to  effect  their  worthy  objects.     With  them,  Government  will 
not  be  a  mere  institution  of  selfishness  or  pride,  but  instinct 
with  moral  sentiment  and  of  a  sublime  sanctity.     They  will 
venerate  it  as  an  ordinance  of  God  for  the  good  of  men;  nor 
will  they  depend  upon  private  efforts  to  compass  ends  de- 
manding the  highest  powers  of  the  State. 

The  founders  of  the  American  Colonization  Society  viewed 
its  plan  as  a  great  leading  MEASURE,  which  our  country 
was  morally  bound  to  adopt  from  respect  to  its  own  character 
and  regard  to  those  sacred  and  eternal  principles  which  no 
one  nation  is  at  liberty  to  violate,  since  they  are  the  common 
interest  and  good  of  all.  The  golden  rule  of  our  Saviour  has 
been  justly  styled  the  perfection  of  the  law  of  nature  and  na- 
tions. No  relations  or  combinations  of  human  society  are 
exempt  from  its  control,  and  for  nations  to  disregard  it  while 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  273 

acknowledging  that  it  should  bind  individuals,  is  as  if  suns, 
leaving  to  planets  the  regular  courses  of  Heaven,  should  rush 
lawless  through  the  Universe.* 

The  scheme  of  African  Colonization  originated  in  human- 
ity and  benevolence  towards  the  coloured  race.  The  good 
it  would  confer  upon  the  free  people  of  colour  in  this  country, 
was  the  least  of  its  expected  benefits.  It  was  designed  to 
open  the  way  to  the  voluntary,  peaceful  and  entire  abolition 
of  slavery;  and  to  civilize  and  christianize  the  barbarous  mil- 
lions of  Africa.  The  friends  of  man  at  the  South  and  at  the 
North,  saw  that  in  this  scheme  they  could  unite.  They  be- 
lieved that  in  respect  to  the  great  moral  and  political  evil  of 
slavery  endangering  the  very  existence  of  some  of  the  States, 
and  in  respect  to  the  slave  trade,  an  evil  at  war  with  mankind, 
the  scheme  must  prove  remedial  if  fostered  by  the  powers  of 
the  States  and  the  Nation.  It  was  clear  that  the  National 
Constitution  authorized  Congress  to  provide  for  the  com- 
mon defence  and  promote  the  general  welfare  of  the  United 
States  in  the  exercise  of  certain  enumerated  powers,  among 
which  is  that  of  raising  and  appropriating  revenue  to  an  ex- 
tent unlimited,  except  by  the  general  sense  and  judgment  of 
the  American  people.!  The  framers  of  that  instrument  were 

*"But  above  all  these,  there  is  the  supreme  and  indissoluble  consanguinity, 
and  society  between  men  in  general;  of  whom  the  heathen  poet,  whom  the 
Apostle  calls  to  witness,  saith  we  are  all  his  generation.  But  much  more  we 
Christians,  unto  whom  it  is  revealed  in  particularity,  that  all  men  came  from 
one  lump  of  earth;  and  that  two  singular  persons  were  the  parents  from  whom 
all  the  generations  of  the  world  are  descended;  we,  I  say,  ought  to  acknow- 
ledge, that  no  nations  are  wholly  aliens  and  strangers  the  one  to  the  other;  and 
not  to  be  less  charitable  than  the  person  introduced  by  the  comic  poet: 
Homo  sum,  humani  nihil  a  me  alienvm  puto." — BACON. 

f  "But  the  power  to  appropriate  and  the  power  to  execute,  are  two  different 
things.  The  one  may  be  used  in  aid  of  the  interests,  but  never  in  violation  of 
the  rights,  either  of  States  or  of  individuals.  The  other,  on  the  contrary, 
may,  in  promoting  the  general  good,  interfere  with  both  the  claims  of  indivi- 
duals, and  the  jurisdiction  of  the  States.  The  power  to  appropriate  money 
for  example,  to  roads  and  canals,  is  limited  to  the  simple  act  of  appropriation , 

35 


274  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

too  wise  not  to  know,  that  nothing  could  be  more  "fallacious 
than  to  infer  the  extent  of  any  power  proper  to  be  lodged  in 
the  National  Government  from  an  estimate  of  its  immediate 
necessities."  They  knew  "that  there  ought  to  be  a  CAPACITY 
to  provide  for  future  contingencies,  as  they  might  happen; 
and  as  these  are  illimitable  in  their  nature,  so  it  is  impossible 
safely  to  limit  that  capacity."*  Blessed  be  God,  our  National 
Government  has  this  CAPACITY.  It  was  formed  for  great 
purposes,  and  by  it  such  purposes  are  yet  to  be  accomplished. 
It  was  never  meant  to  be  a  petty  mercenary  corporation 
without  character  or  dignity,  but  the  right  arm  of  a  great 
Christian  nation. 

The  right  of  Congress  to  adopt  measures  and  appropriate 
money  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade,  has  been  re- 
peatedly exercised.  Upon  what  principle  except  a  just  regard 
to  the  rights  and  interests  of  humanity?  But  though  enough 
has  been  done  for  this  object  to  redound  to  the  eternal  hon- 
our of  our  country,  much  more  remains  to  be  done;  and  the 
testimony  of  Ashmun  confirms  the  conclusions  of  reason, 
that  this  trade  can  be  most  speedily  and  extensively  abolished 
through  the  influence  of  Christian  Colonies  on  the  African 
coast. 

The  abolition  of  slavery  depends,  it  is  true,  exclu- 
sively upon  the  will  of  the  States  in  which  it  exists.  But 

But  the  power  to  make  roads  and  canals,  would  authorize  their  location  and 
protection,  either  with  or  without  consent,  on  the  property  of  any  individual, 
and  within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  State.  So  too,  an  authority  to  create  a  fund, 
as  proposed  by  Mr.  King,  "to  aid  in  the  emancipation  and  removal  of  such 
slaves  as  may  by  the  laws  of  the  several  States  be  authorized  to  be  emancipa- 
ted and  removed,  could  not  in  any  possible  mode,  interfere  with  the  rights 
either  of  the  States  or  of  individuals.  But  a  power  to  emancipate  and  remove 
the  slaves  within  the  limits  of  a  State,  would  be  a  most  alarming  power  of  in- 
terference with  both.  There  is  obviously,  therefore,  a  very  good  reason  why 
the  active  powers  of  the  Government  should  be  specified  and  defined,  while 
the  power  of  appropriation  should  be  limited  only  by  the  general  interests  of 
the  country." — Essays  by  the  late  lamented  Wm.  H.  Fitzhugh,  of  Virginia. 
*  Hamilton  in  the  Federalist. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  275 

these  States  are  members  of  the  National  Union,  or  rather 
they  constitute  that  Union.  Of  this  Union,  it  may  be  said,  as 
of  the  Christian  Church,  though  there  are  many  members, 
there  is  but  one  body;  so  that  if  one  member  suffer,  all  suffer; 
and  the  prosperity  of  one,  is  the  common  good  of  all.  The 
slaves  are  not  merely  property,  they  are  men.  Their  condi- 
tion is  not  merely  evil  to  them;  their  removal,  with  the  con- 
sent of  their  owners,  would  be  the  removal  of  an  immense 
evil  and  danger  from  the  State.  Congress  then  is  morally 
bound  by  regard  to  the  general  welfare,  to  aid  such  States  as 
desire  relief  from  slavery,  and  with  timely  foresight  to  provide 
a  remedy  to  which  others  as  they  shall  feel  its  importance, 
may  resort.  It  is  bound  on  general  principles  of  benevo- 
lence, as  the  constitution  and  a  due  regard  to  all  the  great  in- 
terests concerned  will  permit,  to  show  how  emancipation  may 
be  effected  with  advantage  to  the  slave,  and  without  danger 
to  the  public  welfare.  "If,  said  an  early  and  able  friend*  of 
the  Society,  "a  hostile  army  threatened  to  invade  any  portion 
of  these  United  States,  would  it  not  afford  a  legitimate  em- 
ployment for  the  army  or  the  fleet?  Whether  it  were  New 
Orleans  or  Eastport,  that  were  threatened,  would  make  no 
difference  in  the  question.  The  object  would  be  national, 
and  the  national  force  would  be  called  forth  to  meet  it.  I 
ask,  then,  whether  the  existence  of  one  or  more  of  the  States, 
is  not  a  national  object?  And  whether  an  evil  threatening 
that  existence,  is  not  a  national  evil?"  "Our  object,"  said 
another  distinguished  gentleman,t  "has  been  to  point  out  the 

*  General  Harper  in  support  of  a  resolution  proposing  an  application  to 
Congress. 

f  Mr.  Clay  in  support  of  the  following  resolution  moved  by  him  at  the 
Tenth  Anniversary  of  the  Society: 

Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Managers  be  empowered  and  directed  at  such 
time  or  times  as  may  seem  to  them  expedient,  to  make  respectful  application 
to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  different 
States,  for  such  pecuniary  aid,  in  furtherance  of  the  object  of  this  Society,  as 
they  may  respectively  be  pleased  to  grant. 


276  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

way,  to  show  that  Colonization  is  practicable,  arid  to  leave  it 
to  those  Stales  or  individuals,  who  may  be  pleased  to  engage 
in  the  object  to  prosecute  it.  The  problem  which  has  so  long 
and  deeply  interested  the  thoughts  of  good  and  patriotic  men, 
is  solved — a  country  and  a  home  have  been  found,  to  which 
the  African  race  may  be  sent,  to  the  promotion  of  their  hap- 
piness and  our  own." 

That  slavery  cannot  long  continue  in  this  country,  I  firmly 
believe.  Its  perpetuity  is  irreconcilable  with  the  nature  of 
our  institutions,  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  the  order  of  Provi- 
dence. It  stands  in  the  temple  of  our  freedom,  like  the  image 
of  death  at  the  Egyptian  festivities,  to  sadden  our  thoughts, 
cloud  the  light,  and  tune  to  melancholy,  the  instruments  of 

joy- 

The  question  how  it  shall  be  abolished,  will  soon  be  felt  as 
the  greatest  and  most  interesting  question  that  ever  agitated 
the  mind  of  this  nation.  On  this  question,  public  opinion  is 
every  thing.  In  portions  of  our  country,  this  deep  and  migh- 
ty element  is  already  sensibly  moved  on  the  subject,  and  daily 
accumulating  power.  It  is  too  late  to  say  the  matter  shall 
not  be  discussed;  it  were  easier  to  stay  the  planets  than  pre- 
vent it.  Nor  ought  it  to  be  prevented. 

What  opinions  on  this  subject  shall  predominate  and  gov- 
ern the  policy  of  the  country? 

On  this  question,  I  humbly  conceive,  may  depend  not  the. 
interests  of  millions  only,  but  the  peace  and  integrity  of  the 
Union. 

The  friends  of  African  Colonization  have  thought,  that 
the  consent  of  the  South  was  indispensable  for  the  safe 
abolition  of  slavery;  that  the  work  should  be  done  with  cau- 
tion and  preparation;  that  circumstances  and  consequences 
should  be  regarded;  that  a  separation  of  races  so  distinct  as 
the  coloured  and  white  in  complexion,  habits  and  condition, 
is  desirable  for  the  happiness  of  both;  that  to  plant  communi- 
ties of  free  persons  of  colour,  with  their  consent,  on  the  Afri- 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  277 

can  coast,  would  most  surely  and  speedily  elevate  their  char- 
acter, civilize  Africa,  and  with  reacting  power  on  our  coun- 
try, stimulate  and  increase  humanity  towards  their  brethren; 
that  it  was  a  measure  so  free  from  exception,  and  pregnant 
with  good,  so  comprehensive  in  its  relations,  and  large  of  prom- 
ise; that  all  the  wise  and  patriotic  in  the  nation,  could  sustain 
it  unitedly,  constantly,  and  with  their  might.  It  is  among  my 
deepest  convictions,  that  the  prosecution  of  this  scheme  by  the 
nation,  as  the  main  plan,  at  present,  of  good  for  the  African 
race,  will  retard  no  other  rational  plans  for  their  bejiefit,  but 
eminently  conduce  to  their  success.  It  will  hasten  emanci- 
pation on  our  own  soil,  more  than  all  the  abstract  doctrines 
of  human  rights,  which  once  promulgated  amid  scenes  of 
cruelty  and  murder,  at  which  humanity  grew  pale,  by  the 
Jacobins  of  the  Old  World,  are  now  republished  as  divine 
oracles  by  their  disciples  in  the  New. 

This  scheme  of  Colonization  is  innoxious,  it  tends 
to  unite  public  sentiment,  to  strengthen  the  Union,  to 
increase  confidence  between  the  States,  between  the 
whites  and  the  blacks,  the  master  and  the  slave,  while 
it  invites  a  powerful  nation  of  Christians  to  offer  up 
minor  differences  and  contrarieties  of  interest  on  the  altar 
of  an  undivided  patriotism  and  philanthropy.  It  invites  such 
a  nation,  in  the  spirit  of  a  prophetic  sagacity,  in  the  exercise  of 
its  constitutional  powers,  to  guard  itself  from  coming  dangers; 
do  homage  to  the  great  principles  which  have  made  it, what 
it  is;  vindicate  the  purity  of  its  honour;  stand  forth  to  sup- 
press evils  militating  against  the  common  welfare  and  break- 
ing the  common  ligaments  of  human  society;  and  in  the  si- 
lence of  its  passions  and  the  majesty  of  its  reason  to  build  up 
an  everlasting  fame  on  the  affections  of  mankind.  It  invites 
a  nation,  which  in  the  ardour  of  its  youth,  has  extended  liber- 
ty, civilization  and  Christianity  over  a  continent  late  the  abode 
of  savage  beasts,  and  more  savage  men;  to  endow  another,  a 
larger,  a  more  miserable  one,  with  the  regenerating  spirit  of 
wisdom,  and  the  incorruptible  treasures  of  truth. 


27$  LIFE    OF    ArfHMUN. 

And  what  is  thai  "armed  doctrine'*  which  comes  forth  under 
the  snowy  flog  of  peace,  to  overthrow  first  the  Colonization 
Society,  and  next  slavery?  It  is  a  doctrine  that  would  en- 
throne the  abstract*  rights  of  the  individual  (a  nonentity  ex- 
cept in  imagination),  above  those  conservative  principles 
upon  which  society  depends  not  only  for  its  value,  but  exist- 
ence;— a  doctrine  which  would  settle  questions  of  right  be- 
tween men,  not  on  the  principle  of  reciprocal  benevolence,  in 
view  of  their  varied  circumstances  and  relations;  but  by  an 
independent  standard,  divorced  from  all  the  realities,  and  set- 
ting at  naught  all  the  wise  forecast  of  life.  It  demands,  in 
the  sacred  name  of  duty,  of  the  supreme  power  of  the  State,  to 
give  instant  liberty  to  all  who  have  it  not,  even  if  certain  to 
inflict  thereby  the  greatest  mischiefs  upon  those  liberated, — to 
put  in  jeopardy  the  very  life  of  the  political  body. 

And  in  what  temper,  with  what  language  is  this  doctrine 
enforced? 

As  the  lightning  fiercely  glares  athwart  the  sky  from  the 
dark  folds  of  the  cloud  in  the  horizon,  hiding  all  the  sweet 
lights  of  Heaven,  so  from  the  minds  of  some  of  those  who  as- 
sume to  be  champions  of  this  doctrine,  flash  forth  the  ma- 
lignant passions,  overpowering  in  their  characters  all  the  gen- 
tle attributes  and  virtues  of  humanity.  To  convert  men  to 
their  opinions,  they  slander  and  vilify  their  characters;  to 
promote  what  they  consider  truth,  publish  falsehoods;  tyran- 
nise men  into  their  belief,  out  of  zeal  for  liberty;  and  for  peace 
sake,  light  up  the  elements  of  war  with  the  torch  of  the  furies. 
They  dip  out  a  strange  mixture  of  truth,  error,  calumny  and 

*  Man  must  be  in  society,  to  become  entitled  to  any  of  the  rights  which 
belong  to  men  in  society.  And  can  any  man  doubt  that  these  rights  are  va- 
ried and  modified  by  circumstances?  In  a  ship  at  sea,  with  abundance  of  pro- 
visions, each  passenger  has  the  right  to  a  full  allowance;  but  has  he  this  right 
when  the  general  safety  requires  a  reduction  of  the  rations?  Or  suppose,  in 
case  of  such  reduction,  some  of  the  crew  of  stronger  constitutions  continue 
in  health,  while  others,  it  is  clear,  must  die,  unless  there  be  an  increase  of  their 
allowance;  does  not  the  condition  of  the  latter,  give  them  a  moral  right  to 
special  consideration? 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  279 

wrath,  flaming  hot  from  their  alembic,  and  scatter  it  through 
the  land,  to  destroy  oppression  and  save  the  country.  I  speak 
only  of  the  leaders*  in  the  attempt  to  overthrow  the  Coloniza- 
tion Societyf — of  those  who,  disrobing  themselves  of  the  or- 
dinary decencies  and  courtesies  of  life,  are  now  incensing  the 
North  against  the  South,  and  the  South  against  the  North, 
infecting  the  minds  of  a  large  and  suffering  portion  of  our  in- 
habitants with  hatred  towards  their  friends,  and  in  their  fury 

*  I  limit  these  remarks,  touching  the  spirit  and  language  of  Anti.-Coloniza- 
tionists,  to  the  conductors  of  two  or  three  of  their  leading  Journals.  Their 
boldness  and  activity  would  be  worthy  of  praise,  were  they  governed  by  right 
reason. 

t  I  do  not  question  that  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  embraces  many  men  of 
pure  motives,  intelligent,  patriotic,  and  Christian.  For  such  men  I  shall  not 
permit  a  diiference  of  opinion,  however  important,  to  diminish  my  respect  or 
affection.  While  I  shall  continue  to  cherish  towards  them  these  sentiments, 
even  should  they  not  be  reciprocated;  and  while  I  desire  not  to  restrain  them 
in  the  expression  of  their  opinions,  they  will  not  expect  me  to  be  restrained 
in  the  expression  of  mine. 

Some  of  the  best  men  in  the  country,  believe  that  the  Colonization  Society 
and  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  should  both  be  sustained;  that  each  should  occu- 
py its  own  field  and  controversy  between  them  cease.  But  how  stands  the 
case?  The  leaders  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  declare  the  extinction  of  the 
Colonization  Society  to  be  the  first  step  tow;  rds  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and 
the  doctrine  of  immediate  emancipation  on  our  own  soil,  the  grand  means  for 
the  overthrow  of  slavery.  Some  of  the  members  of  that  Society,  doubtless, 
adopt  the  latter  opinion,  who  reject  the  former. 

Members  there  may  be  (and  probably  are)  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  who 
desire  not  the  overthrow  of  the  Colonization  Society,  and  members  of  the  Co- 
lonization Society  who  find  no  difficulty  in  supporting  what  they  regard  as  its 
views,  and  advocating  at  the  same  time  the  duty  of  immediate  emancipation, 
to  the  fullest  extent  of  the  meaning  of  that  phrase.  Professor  Fowler  (a  name 
which  I  cannot  mention  but  with  the  greatest  respect  and  affection),  in  his  re- 
cent discourse  before  the  Vermont  Colonization  Society,  has  expressed  cor- 
rectly, I  doubt  not,  the  views  of  these  individuals  in  the  following  passage: — 
"If  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  shall  succeed  in  promoting  the  emancipation  of 
the  slaves,  then  it  will  assist  the  Colonization  Society,  by  furnishing  it  with 
an  opportunity  for  a  better  selection  of  emigrants  for  the  building  of  the  Colo- 
ny. On  the  other  hand,  the  greater  the  number  the  Colonization  Society 
transports  to  Liberia,  the  more  room  there  will  be  for  future  and  progressive 
emancipation,  without  endangering  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  country.  In 


280  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

seeking  to  extinguish  some  of  the  best  hopes  of  this  nation 
and  mankind. 

While  I  have  felt  it  my  duty  thus  to  remark  upon  the  con- 
duct of  a  few  rash  men,  who  are,  I  trust,  blind  to  the  natural 
consequences  of  their  actions,  I  would  urge  all  the  sober 

this  way  they  can  be  helpers  of  each  other  as  they  ought  to  be,  while  they  are 
efficiently  promoting  the  several  objects  for  which  they  were  established. — 
Why  then  should  these  Societies,  thus  capable  of  benefitting  each  other, 
weaken  their  energies  and  waste  their  resources,  in  attacking  each  other,  and 
in  the  consequently  necessary  self-defence?  Why  should  these  contests  con- 
tinue to  produce  among  some  of  the  partizans  of  each,  a  frenzied  excitement, 
resulting  in  denunciation  and  outrages  upon  decorum  and  propriety;  or  in 
riots  and  outrages  upon  the  laws  of  the  land?  Let  us  aid  each  of  these  associa- 
tions as  best  we  can.  But  let  each  confine  itself  to  its  legitimate  object." 

It  should  be  recollected,  that  the  leaders  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society,  un- 
provoked, commenced,  with  an  exterminating  spirit,  their  warfare  upon  the 
Colonization  Society.  Whether,  had  no  such  attack  been  made,  those  friends 
of  the  Colonization  Society  who  are  opposed  to  the  doctrine  of  immediate 
emancipation,  as  enforced  by  these  leaders,  would  have  thought  it  necessary 
to  avow  their  opinions  on  this  point,  it  is  for  one  only,  that  the  writer  can  de- 
termine. But  the  Anti-Colonizationists  have  declared  that  the  Colonization 
Society  must  be  destroyed;  Us  scheme  so  far  as  regarded  in  its  influence  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  abandoned;  and  the  doctrine  of  immediate  emancipation  be 
substituted  therefor. 

Now,  what  is  the  doctrine  on  this  subject,  which  duty  requires  to  become  preva- 
lent and  practical  in  the  minds  of  the  American  people,  is  the  great  and  momen- 
tous question  submitted  to  their  decision. 

I  have  no  fears  of  the  effects  of  any  doctrine  founded  in  truth,  and  which  is 
received  by  men  in  its  true  meaning.  Some  doctrines,  true  and  important,  it 
may  be  difficult  to  communicate  to  men  in  certain  conditions  and  circum- 
stances, so  that  they  shall  not  be  misapprehended,  and  in  such  cases,  caution 
and  explanation  may  be  required  in  the  inculcation  of  them. 

The  objections  of  the  writer,  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Society,  as 
expounded  by  its  most  zealous  supporters,  rest  not  upon  his  belief  that  the 
system  of  slavery  as  it  now  exists,  is  right;  nor  that  what  is  therein  wrong 
should  not  be  immediately  rectified;  nor  on  the  fact,  that  he  is  opposed  to  the 
early  and  entire  abolition  of  slavery.  They  result  from  his  conviction,  that 
the  doctrine  as  thus  expounded,  is  untrue,  and  such,  as  should  it  prevail  be- 
yond a  certain  extent,  must  operate  to  retard  the  safe,  peaceful  and  benefi- 
cial abolition  of  slavery — endanger  the  integrity  of  the  Union — and  put  in 
jeopardy  the  best  interests  of  all  classes  of  the  population  of  our  Southern 
States. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  281 

friends  of  the  people  of  colour  and  of  Africa,  to  consider  the 
vast  work  for  both,  to  which  our  country  is  now  summoned 
by  every  thing  that  touches  either  her  interest  or  her  honour. 
O  that  she  would  open  her  great  heart  to  pity,  to  mercy,  and 

I  have  stated  elsewhere  my  reasons,  for  concluding  the  doctrine  of  imme- 
diate emancipation  untrue;  and  I  shall  here  say  only,  that  these  reasons  are 
derived  from  what  I  regard  as  the  true  meaning  and  intent  of  the  Saviour's 
law:  "Do  unto  others  as  ye  would  that  others  should  do  unto  you."  Here  I 
am  happy  to  quote  from  the  able  letter  (just  published)  on  this  subject,  of 
President  Young,  of  Kentucky,  the  following  sentences,  containing  senti- 
ments strictly  just: — "Again  it  is  urged,  that  the  maxim  do  unto  others 
as  ye  would  that  they  should  do  unto  you,  requires  that  all  autho- 
rity of  the  master  should  be  at  once  relinquished.  But  were  I  such  as  a  vast 
majority  of  slaves  are,  I  would  that  I  were,  for  a  time  retained  under  control, 
while  vigorous  means  were  brought  to  operate  upon  me,  to  fit  me  for  the  re- 
sponsibility of  self-government.  I  do  not  say  that,  if  I  were  slave,  such  would 
be  my  desire,  as  I  would  then  possess  all  his  ignorance  and  folly.  The  rule 
does  not  require  that  I  should  do  to  another  what  if  I  were  stripped  of  my 
present  capacity  and  judgment,  I  would  deem  to  be  best  for  me — it  simply  re- 
quires me  to  imagine  myself  in  his  condition;  and  what  I  then  think  would  be 
best  for  myself  in  such  a  condition,  that  to  do  for  him. 

"Any  other  exposition  of  this  rule  will  strip  it  of  all  title  to  its  well  known 
appellation  of  the  golden;  and  will  make  every  man's  desires  the  measure  of 
his  neighbour's  duty.  Were  I  a  child,  I  presume  that  I  would  be  disinclined 
to  the  rod,  even  when  it  was  needed.  Now,  I  would  that  were  I  a  child,  it 
should  not  be  spared;  and  thus,  when  complying  with  the  advice  of  the  wise 
man,  I  do  unto  my  children,  as  I  would  that  they  should  do  unto  me." 

I  have  confidence  in  truth.  It  has  a  mighty  power  over  the  conscience.  It 
is  never  at  war  with  what  is,  on  the  whole,  for  the  interest  of  human  society. — 
The  worst  tendencies  of  the  doctrine  of  immediate  abolition,  result  from  its 
want  of  truth.  It  may  excite  the  passions  of  the  North,  it  cannot  command 
the  conscience  of  the  South.  It  may  excite  the  slave  to  demand  instant  free- 
dom, it  cannot  make  the  masters  generally  feel  it  to  be  their  duty  instantly  to 
grant  it.  It  thus  introduces  and  sets  at  work  antagonist  principles  between 
the  North  and  the  South,  the  master  and  the  slave.  It  is  a  doctrine  which,  if 
it  prevail  beyond  a  certain  limit  in  this  country,  will  do  more  than  any  which 
ever  found  respectable  advocates  in  the  land,  to  darken  the  glory  of  our  pros- 
pects, and  subvert  the  foundations  of  our  Government.  On  the  contrary,  the 
doctrine  that  the  slaves  are  men;  that  they  ought  to  be  treated  as  men;  that 
they  should  be  prepared,  without  unnecessary  delay,  for  perfect  freedom;  and 
when  prepared,  should  receive  it  in  such  way  as  may  best  promote  their  hap- 
piness, and  consist  with  the  general  good,  is  one  which  must  commend  itself 
to  the  conscience  of  every  humane  and  Christian  man.  Should  it  fail  to  be- 

36 


282  LIFE    OF    ASIIMITN. 

to  justice!  That  standing  up  from  her  guilty  slumber,  in 
giant  strength,  made  stronger  by  her  faith  in  God,  she  would 
hasten  to  strike  the  bonds  from  millions  at  her  feet;  to  send 
them  forth  as  the  unfettered  heralds  of  her  power  pledged  to 
make  the  debased,  the  enslaved,  the  perishing  of  another  con- 
tinent, sharers  in  the  hopes  and  the  happiness  of  the  people 
of  this.  So  sublime  a  spectacle  the  world  has  never  wit- 
nessed. Whatever  ancient  genius  or  power  have  effected, 
compared  with  such  a  work,  loses  its  dignity, — the  grandest 
monuments  that  look  forth  in  solitariness,  from  the  gloom 
of  past  ages,  appear  in  the  comparison,  like  toys  cast  by  the 
way-side,  in  the  sports  of  our  childhood.  This  work  can  be 
done.  And  we  are  bound  in  duty  to  Him  who  is  to  be  our 
final  Judge,  to  do  it.  The  Statesman  of  large  and  manly 
soul,  informed  by  wisdom  and  inspired  by  eloquence,  who 
fearlessly,  in  the  councils  of  this  nation,  shall  advocate  this 
cause,  on  those  eternal  principles  of  truth  and  justice  consti- 
tuted by  God  the  foundation  and  support  of  every  Govern- 
ment which  he  hath  promised  to  bless,  will  sooner  or  later 
find  his  name  written  on  innumerable  hearts;  the  spirit  of  his 
country  will  answer  to  his  appeals;  he  shall  know  that  there 
is  in  it  an  energy  for  good,  which  once  excited,  can  rest  no 
more,  while  there  is  a  stain  upon  her  honour  or  a  just  de- 
mand on  her  beneficence. 

And  shall  we  despair  of  witnessing  a  speedy  union  of  the 
wise  and  good  from  every  State  in  our  Republic,  cemented 
by  a  common  opinion  on  this  subject,  and  moved  by  one 

come  prevalent  in  this  nation,  it  will  not   be  the  fault  of  the  doctrine,  but  the 
sin  of  those  who  resist  the  power  of  its  truth  and  the  benignity  of  its  influence. 

Since  most  of  this  chapter  was  written,  I  have  perused  the  able  essays  of  my 
friend  Gerrit  Smith,  Esqr.  in  the  Journal  of  Freedom,  and  to  differ  on  any 
points  from  him,  a  man  who  is  an  honour  to  his  country,  is  pain- 
ful. But  while  I  admire  the  spirit  of  his  essays,  and  feel  the  force  of  many 
important  truths  contained  in  them,  I  may  not  have  the  happiness  to  agree 
with  him  in  some  views,  which  I  must  regard  as  vastly  important  to  t  *»  tri- 
umphant success  of  our  common  cause. 


LIFE    OF    ASIIMUN.  283 

spirit,  prepared  to  apply  the  treasure  and  the  power  of  the 
nation  to  carry  into  effect,  on  a  scale  commensurate  with  the 
evils  to  be  remedied,  and  the  means  entrusted  to  them  by 
Providence,  the  scheme  of  African  Colonization?  Responsi- 
bilities, awful  beyond  expression,  now  rest  upon  the  friends 
of  the  American  Colonization  Society.  With  the  boldness 
of  truth,  and  the  meekness  of  wisdom,  and  the  confidence  of 
success,  let  them  aim  at  nothing  less  than  to  gain  for  their 
enterprise  the  affection  and  support  of  the  nation.  "If  ever 
there  was  a  time  that  calls  on  us  for  no  vulgar  conception  of 
things,  and  for  exertions  in  no  vulgar  strain,  it  is  the  awful 
hour  that  Providence  has  now  appointed  to  this  nation. — 
Every  little  measure  is  a  great  error;  and  every  great  error 
will  bring  on  no  small  ruin.  Nothing  can  be  directed  above 
the  mark  that  we  must  aim  at;  every  thing  below  it  is  abso- 
lutely thrown  away."* 

And  is  it  possible,  there  treads  this  soil  sacred  to  freedom 
and  Christianity,  any  man,  who  can  look  his  countrymen  in 
the  face  and  pronounce  domestic  slavery  an  "indispensable 
element  in  an  unmixed  representative  republic"! — a  doctrine 
dishonourable  alike  to  the  benevolence  of  God  and  the  na- 
ture of  man?  A  doctrine  declaring  that  the  liberty  of  one 
portion  of  mankind  must  be  perpetually  dependant  for  exist- 
ence upon  the  slavery  of  another  !  Let  him  who  inculcates 
a  dogma  so  abhorrent  to  the  spirit  which  redeemed  his  coun- 
try, and  which  if  it  survive  here,  must  redeem  the  world,  ex- 
pect few  disciples  in  this  land,  until  the  signatures  which  the 
Genius  of  Liberty  has  carved  in  our  mountains,  be  forever 
erazed,  and  her  glorious  banner,  now  waving  over  us,  be  taken 
down,  forever.  Let  him  seek  for  proselytes  among  the  Arabs 
of  the  desert,  or  the  awe-struck  minions  of  despotic  power;  but 
expect  not  his  doctrine  to  prevail  among  a  people,  who  have 
already  taught  wisdom  to  kings,  and  thundered  forth  the 
truth  that  makes  the  spirit  of  man  free,  in  the  ears  of  an  as- 
tonished world. 

*  Burke, 
t  Inaugural  Address  of  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  1834. 


CHAPTER    XIT. 


THE  doctrine  of  a  Divine  Providence,  ruling  in  human  af- 
fairs, is  clearly  taught  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.  The  wisest 
of  men  uttered  inspired  language  when  he  said,  "man's  go- 
ings are  of  the  Lord;  how  then  can  he  understand  his  own 
way?"  Whatever  darkness  may  rest  upon  the  path  of  an 
individual,  we  are  assured  from  the  same  source,  "that  the 
way  of  the  Lord  is  strength  to  the  upright;"  that  "the  integ- 
rity of  the  upright  shall  guide  them;"  and  that  "to  him  that 
soweth;  righteousness  shall  be  a  sure  reward."  How  the 
Divine  Agency  is  exerted  in  Providence,  we  may  in  few,  if 
in  any  particular  cases  know,  while  the  reality  of  such  Agen- 
cy is  certain.  How  far,  it  is  but  the  application  of  pre-estab- 
lished laws,  or  how  far,  the  power  of  God  suspending  and 
controlling  them,  is  perhaps  as  unimportant  as  impossible 
to  determine.  The  field  of  Providential  Agency  lies  within 
the  secrecy  of  the  Divine  Counsel.  The  Holy  Scriptures 
assure  us  of  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  such  Agency,  and  de- 
clare the  great  and  benevolent  ends  to  which  it  is  directed,, — 


286  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

As  the  fulfilment  of  Prophecy  is  a  proof  of  the  Divine  inspi- 
ration of  the  Prophet,  so  the  correspondence  seen  by  the 
good  man,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  and  especially  in 
his  own  experience,  with  the  revelation  of  God's  will  and  su- 
preme Providential  rule,  verifies  to  him  the  testimony  of 
Scripture  on  this  subject. 

The  Providence  of  God  infringes  not  upon  the  freedom 
of  human  actions,  nor  lessens  human  accountability.  It  can- 
not ordinarily  be  termed  miraculous,  because  it  neither  sus- 
pends a  general  law,  nor  deviates  from  it,  in  a  way  percepti- 
ble to  sense.  It  never  interrupts,  modifies,  or  changes  those 
moral  laws  which  extend  their  authority  over  us  as  free  and 
responsible  moral  agents.  It  marks  not  men,  to  the  eye  of 
each  other,  either  as  the  objects  of  the  special  love  or  displea- 
sure of  God.  But  it  is  a  hand  to  lead,  a  shield  to  protect,  an 
Almighty  power  to  save  the  good  man  amid  all  the  vicissi- 
tudes, darkness,  and  sufferings  of  life.  That  He  exists,  is  as 
great  a  mystery  to  him,  as  that  he  lives,  moves,  and  has  his 
being  in  God.  The  evidence  of  a  particular  Providence,  is 
discerned  less,  probably,  by  such  a  man,  in  the  course  and 
operations  of  nature,  and  the  great  movements  and  changes 
in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  than  in  the  effects  of  the  successive 
events  in  his  own  history  on  his  own  character.  He  sees 
himself  to  be  the  subject  of  a  moral  discipline,  not  of  his 
choice, — opposed  perhaps  to  all  the  devices  of  his  own  wis- 
dom; yet  exactly  suited  to  eradicate  his  vices,  to  mature  his 
virtues,  and  prepare  him  for  a  nobler  life.*  "How  often," 

*  The  following  sentences  from  the  Edinburgh  Review,  (No.  100)  contain 
the  most  plausible  argument  that  the  writer  has  seen  against  a  particular 
Providence : 

"Now,  general  laws,  however  for  the  most  part  yet  undiscovered  by  us, 
govern  alike  the  constitution  of  our  nature,  and  the  course  of  events.  Upon 
the  supposition  that  a  general  and  continuing  interference  of  Providence 
takes  place  (not  for  their  maintenance,  but)  for  their  suspension  and  modifi- 
cation, it  follows,  in  like  manner,  that  all  our  attempts  to  trace  a  chain  of 
cause  and  effect,  and  to  found  what  would  once  have  been  considered  aphilo 


LIFE    OF    ASI1MUN.  287 

said  Mr.  Aslmmnt  before  lie  embarked  for  Africa,  "is  the 
'  Providence  of  God  employed  for  our  highest  good,  without 
'  our  co-operation  !  How  often,  even  against  our  best  con- 
'  trived  and  most  strenuous  endeavours  !"  "To  how  slight 
'  a  circumstance  can  every  reflecting  person  refer  the  origin 
'  of  some  of  the  most  momentous  passages  of  his  life!" 

The  disappointments,  trials,  and  even  errors  of  Mr.  Ash- 
mun,  were  made  the  means  of  elevating  his  character  and  ex- 

sophical  history,  comprising,  through  their  probable  connexions,  all  the  ad- 
vantage that  history  can  confer,  ought  to  be  abandoned  as  an  inquiry  after  a 
thing  which  has  no  actual  existence.  If  fresh  trails  can  be  thus  interposed, 
the  chase  after  human  probabilities  is  one  where  the  moral  reasoner  must 
lose  the  scent  at  every  moment.  To  judge  by  the  analogy,  is  there  not  every 
reason  rather  to  presume  that,  if  the  general  rules  of  the  moral  could  be  known 
but  as  accurately  as  those  of  the  physical  world,  we  should  find  the  absence  of 
special  interference  quite  as  great  in  one  case  as  in  the  other?" 

Not  to  remark  upon  the  declaration  concerning  the  nature  of  the  laws  which 
are  acknowledged  to  be  for  the  most  part  undiscovered,  and  upon  the  assumption 
of  the  very  matter  in  question  in  the  assertion,  that  general  laws  govern  the 
constitution  of  our  nature  and  the  course  of  events;  I  observe,  that  the  par- 
ticular Providence  of  God  is  revealed  in  the  Bible  as  one  of  the  laws  in  His  go- 
vernment of  the  world,  and  that  all  general  laws  are  ever  dependant  upon  His 
will,  if  indeed  most,  be  not  merely  modes  in  which  this  will  operates.  The 
Divine  Agency  in  particular  Providence,  is  (except  in  the  case  of  miracles) 
a  secret  Agency,  and  of  course  neither  suspends  nor  disturbs,  sensibly,  the 
general  laws  of  nature.  That  series  of  causes  and  effects  which  a  philosophical 
history  must  comprise,  is  such  as  has  arisen  under  the  government  of  Him 
who  in  particular  interpositions,  acts  not  without  rule  or  reason,  but  with  con- 
stant and  unalterable  regard,  to  the  nature,  the  freedom,  and  the  interests  of 
His  intelligent  creatures. 

From  experience  of  the  past  we  determine  probabilities  fo/  the  future;  not 
that  all  the  causes  of  past  events  have  been  subject  to  our  examination,  (for 
even  the  Reviewer  admits  that  most  of  them  are  undiscovered)  but  observing 
the  circumstances  in  which  those  events  have  arisen,  and  their  apparent  an- 
tecedents, we  learn  to  expect  similar  events  under  like  conditions  and  circum- 
stances. The  admission  of  a  particular  Providence,  alters  in  no  way  the  facts 
in  the  history  of  mankind,  which  consti'tute  the  basis  of  all  our  conclusions 
concerning  the  probabilities  of  future  events.  But  is  it  not  a  consolation  to 
the  devout  man  to  know,  that  all  things  are  under  the  immediate  view  and 
control  of  the  great  and  benevolent  Author  of  the  Universe? 
f  Life  of  Bacon. 


288  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

tending  his  usefulness.  They  became  tributary  to  that  high 
Providence  which  discerns  the  "end  from  the  beginning,"  and 
leads  forth  its  elect  servants,  not  from  the  rosy  bower  of  soft- 
ness and  repose,  but  from  the  rough  ways  of  hard  endurance, 
from  the  fierce  and  fiery  conflict  with  temptations  and  afflic- 
tions, to  great  and  honourable  achievements.  From  the  pe- 
riod of  which  we  are  writing,  he  might  have  expressed  his 
feelings  in  the  language  of  our  first  father  to  his  Angel 
Teacher : 

"Henceforth  I  learn,  that  to  obey  is  best, 

And  love  with  fear  the  only  God;  to  walk 

As  in  his  presence;  ever  to  observe 

His  Providence;  and  on  Him  sole  depend, 

Merciful  over  all  His  works,  with  good 

Still  overcoming  evil,  and  by  small 

Accomplishing  great  things,  by  things  deem'd  weak 

Subverting  worldly  strong,  and  worldly  wise 

By  simply  meek:  that  suffering  for  truth's  sake 

Is  fortitude  to  highest  victory, 

And  to  the  faithful,  death  the  gate  of  lue; 

Taught  this  by  His  example,  whom  I  now 

Acknowledge  my  Eedeemer  ever  blest." 

His  papers  furnish  evidences  of  astonishing  activity  and 
industry.  •  Though  his  range  of  public  duty  embraced  all* 
the  affairs  of  the  Colony  and  even  its  remote  relations  to 
Africa  and  America,  yet  he  found  time  to  think  and  write 
upon  various  subjects,  moral,  scientific,  political,  and  reli- 
gious. He  criticised  the  Philosophy  of  Paley,  wrote  Essays 
on  the  Tariff;  the  morality  and  political  results  of  the  Holy 
Alliance;  on  points  of  Law,  Solitude,  the  Social  Affections, 
Love  and  Marriage;  Capital  Punishments,  the  Prophecy  of 
Malachi,  the  present  state  of  the  Argument  in  regard  to  the 
General  Deluge  as  derived  from  geological  phenomena;  Provi- 
dence, the  Sabbath  Devotion,  and  many  other  Theological  to- 
pics, while  he  recorded  many  observations  and  reflections  dn 
the  Geography,  Climate.  Natural  History,  and  Moral  and  Po- 
litical state  of  Africa.*  He  pursued,  to  some  extent,  the  stu- 

*  Appendix  No.  10. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  289 

dies  of  Botany  and  Ornithology.  Most  of  his  notes  relating 
to  his  religious  experience,  and  the  ways  of  Providence  to- 
wards him,  are  dated  on  Sunday,  a  day  which  he  devoted  to 
public  worship,  to  a  penitent  acknowledgment  of  his  sins, 
the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  humble  supplication  for  the  Di- 
vine blessing,  and  a  thankful  remembrance  of  the  works, 
goodness,  and  mercy  of  God.  His  religious  sentiments 
and  feelings  at  this  period,  (from  autumn  1824  to  the  same 
1825)  are  expressed  in  the  following  brief  extracts  from  his 
private  Journal : 

"October  17th,  1824. 

"A  fever  from  about  the  3d  to  the  9th  of  this  month,  con- 
'  fined  me  to  my  apartment.  I  found  a  softening  of  my  feel- 
c  ings  towards  my  enemies,  I  could  forgive  them  all  freely — 
£  was  brought  to  expect  and  desire  my  happiness  so  entirely 
1  from  God,  as  to  be  willing,  if  it  were  His  pleasure,  to  give  up 
1  all  my  other  prospects  and  enjoyments  for  Him  alone.  I  was 
<  willing  to  lose  my  friends,  my  heart's  dearest  idols;  my  re- 
1  putation,  civilized  and  refined  society,  and  spend  rny  days 
1  in  poverty,  seclusion  and  sickness,  if  God  would  but  be  my 
'  God,  and  afford  me  the  visits  of  His  grace  and  the  refreshing' 
1  light  of  His  presence.  I  mourned  my  former  departures 
'  from  Him,  and  feared  more  than  death  itself,  to  relapse  into 
1  a  life  of  blindness  and  disobedience." 

The  following  passage,  was  written  after  a  severe  indispo- 
sition, on  Bushrod  Island,  after  having  been  exposed  to  fa- 
tigue for  several  days  during  the  course  of  negotiations  for 
Territory  with  the  native  Chiefs  on  the  St.  Paul's  : 

"SUNDAY,  April  8th,  1825. 

"It  becomes  me  to  record  the  goodness  of  God  in  my  re- 
'  cent  indisposition  on  Bushrod  Island.  When  seized,  I  was 
1  in  the  humble  employment  of  administering  a  little  aid  to 
'  a  sick  coloured  man  of  our  party.  The  cenery  around — 
'  our  own  neglected  persons — the  half  naked  appearance  of 
{  our  attendants — our  pedestrian  mode  of  travelling  by  paths 

o< 


290  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

'  merely  passable — all  tended  to  deliver  the  mind  from  the 
( imposing  influence  of  human  pride,  and  to  cast  it  upon 
( those  resources  which  exist  independently  of  the  gifts  of 
(  fortune,  of  health,  or  even  of  this  precarious  animal  life  uV 
'  self.  Exhausted  of  strength  and  sensible  of  the  rapid  ac- 

*  cess  of  fever,  I  yielded  myself  entirely  to  the  power  of  the 
( instructive   circumstances  of  my  situation.     My  thoughts 
'  were  directly  occupied  with  the  history  of  the  blessed  Re- 

*  deemer's  humiliation,  and  of  His  solitary  life,  the  labours 
'and  indigence  which  attended  every  stage  of  it,  and  the  in* 
1  dignity  and  sufferings  which  marked  its  close.     Thence 
1  reverting  to  my  own  actual  situation,  from  which  this  train 

*  of  reflection  had  taken  its  rise,  I  silently  uttered  in  the  fol- 
1  lowing  language,  a  prayer  which  was  entirely  dictated  by 
c  present  feelings :     <O  eternal  Lord,  thou  hast  reduced  me  to 
'  a  state  in  which  I  am  obliged  to  dismiss  from  my  mind, 

*  every  care  and  concern  relating  to  this  life — to  turn  for  sup- 
1  port,  away  from  every  created  object,  and  concentrate  all 
1  my  cares,  all  my  thoughts,  all  my  affections  upon  a  single 
'  point,  and  that  point,  O  glorious  Jehovah,  opens  upon  the 
f  ineffable  perfections  of  thy  nature  in  full  display.'     The 
1  sentiment  which  dictated  this  somewhat  obscure  phraseo- 
1  logy,  may  be  illustrated  by  supposing  the  sight  which  had 
'  before  been  roving  at  large,  at  once  confined  to  a  single  lu- 
1  minous  point  in. the  skies,  and  when  once  so  intently  fixed 
c  and  confined,  to  have  the  power  of  prying  through  the  em- 
1  pyreal  concave  and  descanting  upon  a  new  and  immense 
(  exhibition  of  celestial  glories.     Such  was  the  imagery  by 
{  which  my  soul  was  freed  from  the  entanglements  of  sense, 

*  for  the  moment,  and  raised  to  the  intent  contemplation  of  the 
1  glories  of  the  invisible  God.     The  stimulus  of  the  fever, 

*  without  deranging  the  powers  of  the  mind,  quickened  arid 
1  assisted  their  operations.     The  Holy  Spirit  vouchsafed  His 
( instructions.     Never  had  I  a  more  impressive  view  of  the 
'  extent  and  completeness  of  the  ruin  of  human  nature,  and 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  291 

''the   infinite  destruction   incurred  by  the  Apostacy.     My 

*  imagination,  for  a  moment,  indulged  the  supposition,  that 
4  God  had  not  yet  revealed  to  Angels  a  remedy  for  the  deep 
4  damnation  of  the  race.     Never  before  did  I  so  effectually 
1  feel  the  truth  of  the  often-made  representation,  that  on  this 

*  supposition,  Angels  would  say  such  a  remedy  is  impossible. 

*  *     *     *     Now  was  my  mind  prepared  for  the  annunciation 
4  which  I  supposed  to  follow,  of  God's  purpose  of  giving  His 
4  son  a  ransom  for  the  sins  of  the  world.     At  this  momenta 
4  new  and  enlarged  conception  of  the  infinitude  of  the  Divine 
4  nature,  of  the  glory  of  the  co-equal  Son  in  Heaven,  took 
4  place  in  my  mind.     O  how  entirely,  how  convincingly  did 
<  the  thoughts,  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God  in  this  view 

*  of  His  mighty  power  and  ineffable  dignity  and  glory,  do 
4  away  the  painful  sentiment  which  a  perception  of  the  pre- 
4  ceding  difficulty  had  introduced.     The  intelligence   was 
4  too  great  for  faith  itself  to  receive  without  staggering.     But 

*  the  proofs  were  complete.     *     *     Jesus  Christ  has  been 
4  revealed  from  Heaven  in  the  execution  of  this  magnificent 
'  labour  of  grace — has  been  evidently  set  forth   crucified 

*  among  us.     Doubt  was  excluded,  and  at  the  end  of  this 
4  edifying  reverie,  I  found  myself  refreshed,  confirmed,  and 
4  excepting  some  remaining  uncertainty,  as  to  my  personal 
4  interest  in  the  Redeemer,  easy  and  satisfied  in  my  Father's 
4  hands,  and  willing  to  abide  the  event  of  my  present  illness, 
4  whether  it  were  to  end  in  death  or  health." 

"April  26th. 

"This  evening  I  called  to  see  Mrs.  Benson,  who  has  for 
4  several  months  been  in  a  declining  state  of  health.  She 
4  was  very  low  indeed,  but  full  of  Faith  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 
1  She  told  me,  with  every  appearance  of  sincerity,  that  she 

*  had  been   much  afraid  of  self-deception — had  strove  and 

*  prayed  for  many  years  against  it — and  had  at  last  arrived 
4  to  an  entire  certainty,  that  she  was  not  deceivad.     She  la- 
4  mented  the  levity  and  inconsistency  of  many  professing 


292  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

1  Christianity  in  the  settlement.  Formerly,  when  expecting 
c  to  leave  the  world,  she  had  some  doubts  and  fears;  but 
1  now  God  has  removed  several  of  her  children,  whom  He 
1  has  thus  undertaken  to  make  provision  for  himself — she 
1  rejoiced  that  the  'Master'  had  taken  them,  and  was  entirely 
1  resigned  to  His  will.  She  had  been  greatly  aillicted — very 
1  greatly;  but  it  was  all  the  'Master's'  work,  and  she  could 
c  not  object  a  word.  The  goodness  of  Christ ! — it  ought  to 
1  win  all  hearts — and  could  they  but  know  that  He  had  power 
c  to  forgive  sin,  and  give  the  evidence  of  it  which  .she  felt, 
(  they  would  embrace  Him.  She  spoke  of  the  death  of  her 
1  father,  who  had  been  buried  the  same  evening,  with  perfect 
1  composure,  and  with  praises  to  God,  who  had  so  ripened 
'  him  for  Heaven.  She  told  me,  that  she  has  not,  amidst  all 
'  her  afflictions,  one  gloomy  hour,  and  was  confident  when 
i  called  to  go,  the  'Master'  would  give  her  a  pleasant  passage." 

"May  1st,  1825. 

"Finished,  in  the  intervals  of  worship,  the  reading  of  Mrs. 
1  Judson's  'Mission  to  Burmah.'  Thanks  to  God  for  the  con- 
<  firmation  which  the  history  of  that  Mission  adds  to  my 

*  faith  in  the  truth  and  promises  of  the  Christian  Revelation. 

"I  commenced  the  little  volume  with  a  sort  of  prejudice,  I 

*  scarcely  knew  or  inquired  why,  both  against  the  persons  and 

*  ministry  of  these  pious  missionaries,  who  were  permitted  to 
'  introduce  the  gospel  into  that  empire.    This  was  caused,  per- 
1  haps,  by  their  forsaking  the  communion  of  those  religious 
'  societies  which  sent  them  out  to  India.     But  whatever  was 
1  the  cause,  and  as  long  as  the  uncharitable  sentiment  had 
1  dwelt  in  my  heart,  the  perusal  of  this  book  has  destroyed 
'  it.     I  can  embrace  them  with  a  fraternal  affection,  and  bid 
'  them  God  speed  in  their  work.     They  deserve  for  their 
1  zeal,  faith,  and  constancy,  amidst  numerous  difficulties  and 
i  tedious  delays,  the  encouragement  and  gratitude  of  every 
1  one  who  has  made  the  interest  of  the  Redeemer  his  own. 
1  They  have  mine.     The  blessing  of  the  Holy  Spirit  be  on 
1  them  and  their  work,  to  the  end !" 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  293 

"Myself. — The  old  Platonic  maxim,  i>w0c  aeavtov,  what  is 

*  its  tendency  but  to  make  a  world  of  egotists?     Is  egotism 
{  then  an  evil?     The  philosopher  saw  the  source  of  whatever 
'  there  is  of  vice  and  folly  in  the  character,  to  be  a  superficial 
1  acquaintance  with  ourselves:  and  saw,  farther,  that  it  could 

*  be  only  cured  or  prevented  by  that  profound  and  universal 
£  self-knowledge  which  should  render  the  faults  and  Weak- 
c  nesses  of  our  nature  as  obvious  to  ourselves,  as  our  better 
1  qualities. 

"A  man  must  study  himself  very  injudiciously,  and  very 
1  unsuccessfully,  indeed,  who  does  not  discover  more  of  the 
£  former  than  of  the  latter,  in  every  view  which  he  can  take 
{  of  his  subject:  and  if  his  estimation  of  himself  is  graduated 
1  by  his  observations,  he  cannot  fail  to  divest  himself  of  much 

*  of  that  blind  and  arrogant  conceit  which  forms  a  part  of  the 
'  character  of  most  young  men.     But  for  all  practical  and 
1  useful  ends,  he  will  acquire  in  its  stead,  a  far  more  valuable 
'  and  rational  confidence  in  himself.     A  man  who  can  clearly 
£  perceive,  and  is  willing  to  confess  to  himself  his  faults,  has 
1  a  secret  consciousness  of  a  power  of  reforming  them.     The 
'  fact  that  he  does  see  the  blemishes  of  his  character,  is  proof 
'  that  he  is  not  deceived  in  the  opinion  which  his  judgment 

*  has  formed  of  his  better  features.     He  knows  of  what  he  is 

<  capable;  and,  limiting  his  attempts  to  his  powers,  succeeds. 
1  Every  success  inspires  fresh  confidence.     Every  attempt 
'  adds  to  his  experience.     He  rises  in.  the  scale  of  existence, 
'  and  rises  on  strong  supports.     No  giddiness  attends  the  ele- 

<  vation — for  the  daily  proofs  of  infirmity  and  folly  which 
'  occur,  serve  as  an  antidote  to  that  danger. 

"Now  to  practise  on  my  own  theory : 

"I perceive  that  lam  no  zealot,  and  every  day  less  likely 
1  to  become  one.  Where  others  are  confident,  I  hesitate — 
'  where  others  deal  in  absolute  and  universal  assertions.  I 
1  speak  hypothetically;  and  even  if  I  assent,  it  is  on  the  possi- 
1  bility  that  I  am  drawn  to  a  false  conclusion  by  surveying 


294  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

c  only  a  part  of  the  evidence.     Where  others  devote  their  souls 

<  to  a  particular  system,  as  if  all  truth  were  condensed  within 

*  its  maxims,  I  embrace  a  part  of  several,  and  reject  much  of 

*  all — and  still  regard  my  knowledge  of  the  subject  as  too  im- 
1  perfect  to  form  any  system  for  myself.     Where  others  de- 
'  vour  a  few  favourite  dogmas,  and  satiate   the  appetite  of 
1  their  minds  at  a  meal,  I  am  constantly  tasting,  laying  aside 
'  and  carping,  and  even  finding  exceptions  to  the  most  re- 

<  ceived  maxims. 

"If  an  object  of  extensive  utility  to  the  human  race  is  pre- 
4  sented.  I  approve  and  patronize — but  cannot  surrender  my- 
1  self  entirely  to  it;  and  compared  with  the  zeal  of  many  of 

<  its  advocates,  my  approbation  is  frozen  into  a  species  of  in- 

*  difference. 

"I  smile  at  the  zeal  which  I  every  day  see  so  many  lavish- 
4  ing  on  objects  of  such  subordinate  importance,  that  I  am 
i  sure  they  will  one  day  blush  at  the  review  of  their  own  con- 

*  duct.     When  young  I  could  cramp  the  whole  of  experi- 
(  mental  and  practical  religion  into  the  compass  of  a  few  pro- 

<  positions.     I  could  create  out  of  an  equally  small  number  of 

*  Calvinistic  principles,  a  perfect  standard  of  orthodoxy.     But 
1  I  have  since  perceived  that  I  then  saw,  but  very  imperfectly, 

<  only  one,  out  of  the  infinitude  of  aspects,  of  which  the  sys- 

*  tem  of  celestial  doctrines  is  susceptible.     Every  variation 

<  of  my  own  station,  would,  on  the  principle  then  assumed, 
6  have  given  me  a  new  theory  of  practice,  and  new  standards 
1  of  orthodoxy." 

"Should  I  live  a  few  years,  it  may  be  useful  for  me  to  know, 

<  in  what  way  my  thoughts  are  employed,  and  rny  hopes  and 
'  fears  exercised,  at  this  period,  relative  to  the  great  interests 

<  of  my  salvation. 

"In  the  first  place,  I  state  with  gratitude  to  God,   that  my 

<  solicitude  about  my  future  wellbeing  is  habitually  too  great 

*  to  permit  me  to  rest  without  some  definite  preparation  for 

*  death  and  judgment.     I  dare  not  embrace  the  world,  and 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  295 

f  content  myself  with  the  prospect  of  faring  at  last  as  the  peo- 

1  pie  of  the  world  must.     I  have  too  penetrating  and  habitual 

'  a  belief  of  the  truth  and  justice  of  God,  to  indulge  in  my- 

c  self  for  an  hour,  an  allowed  contempt  of  His  revelation. 

x  "I  have  often  this  train  of  thought  in  my  mind:     Mahome- 

{  danism  is  certainly  a  falsehood — Pagan   systems  are   too 

1  ridiculously  absurd  to  deserve  a  moment's  inquiry  into  their 

'  origin — Atheists,  Infidels,  Jews,  and  Roman  Catholics,  are 

'  flattering  themselves  with  speculations  and  errors,  as  vain 

'  and  false  as  their  effects  on  moral  character  are  blinding, 

'  corrupting,    and  hardening.     Away  with  them  all:     My 

'  heart  and  judgment  equally  reject  their  sophisms,  and  their 

'  dependence.     None  of  their  speculations,  rites,  and  rules, 

{  can  reform  the  life  or  purify  the  heart.     They  have  all, 

£  their  foundation  in  the  lusts  of  the  depraved  heart.     I  know 

( too  well  the  tendency  of  my  own  to  doubt  it.     The  gospel 

1  of  Jesus  Christ  then,  as  contained  in  the  Testaments,  is  the 

1  last  and  only  piece  of  'terra  firma'  which  shows  itself  on 

*  this  broad  and  fluctuating  ocean  of  doubt  on  which  I  am 

1  tossing.     In  this  I  find  all  the  characters  of  truth  which  my 

1  reason  asks  for.     Why  then  do  I  not  embrace  it  with  my 

(  whole  heart?     Ah  !  here's  the  difficulty:     My  understand- 

'  ing  resolves  this  problem,  too,  by  recollecting  that  the  gos- 

1  pel  is  too  holy  to  engage  the  entire  confidence  and  love  of 

1  a  heart  that  retains  its  relish  for  sin.     Not  an  objection  of- 

{  fers,  but  I  am  able  to  answer  it  to  the  satisfaction  of  reason. 

But  still  I  do  not  entirely  and  effectually  believe.     I  do  not 

embrace  with   my  entire  soul,  '-unto  righteousness,"  this 

1  glorious  gospel.     I  do  not  make  its  precepts  my  only  law — 

1  nor  its  hopes  my  only  portion.     Why  not?     Sloth — divided 

1  views  between  it  and  the  world — strong  and  unsubdued 

1  corruptions,  passions,  appetites,  all  tend  to  blind,  harden, 

1  and  defeat  the  resolutions  of  the  better  part  of  my  nature. 

My  last  resort  then  is,  give  up  myself  to  the  belief  of  the 

'  gospel,  and  perplex  my  mind  with  doubts,  no  more.     If  it 


296  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

I  is  not  true,  nothing  within  the  reach  of  the  human  mind  is 
{  so.     If  I  live  and  die  in  the  full  faith  of  the  gospel  of  Christ, 

I 1  live  and  die  with  the  best  prospects  a  mortal  can  have  on 

*  this  side  of  the  grave.     My  wish  is  to  establish  the  resolu- 
1  tion  with  myself,  to  live  and  die  in  this  faith — and  never  let 

*  my  thoughts  perplex  me  more,  with  objections,  or  doubts. 
t  They  are  useless  and  pernicious.     I  wish  to  believe  every 
1  truth  of  the  Testaments — and  aim  to  become  a  perfect  Chris- 
i  tian — sensible  that  God  will  accept  me,  and  all  will  be  well 
<  for  ever. 

"I  thank  God  that  the  foregoing  minutes  -delineate  some- 
1  thing  more  than  cool  and  fruitless  speculations.  As  far  as 
1  the  sketch  goes,  it  represents  the  actual  struggles  and  la- 
'  bours — in  other  words,  the  experimental  exercises  of  my 
'  mind,  which  have  a  correspondent  influence  on  my  practice. 

"I  live  daily  under  a  more  impressive  view  of  the  certainty 
1  and  nearness,  and  solemn  consequences  of  my  dissolution — 
1  the  termination  of  my  probationary  state,  and  the  surren- 
1  der  of  my  accounts  to  God.  Dreadful  event !  Alas  !  who 
1  can  abide  it?  How,  indeed,  shall  I?  *  * 

"Another  fact  I  cannot  suppress.  Examining  the  structure 
c  of  a  flower,  and  explaining  to  Mr.  Waring  the  uses  of  its 

*  several  parts,  about  the  same  time — I  preached  myself  into 
{  a  transport  of  rapturous  astonishment  at  the  wisdom  and 
£  other  adorable  attributes  of  the  Almighty,  displayed  in  that 
'  little  piece  of  His  workmanship.     A  new  view  of  His  uni- 
1  versal  Providence,  from  that  moment,  took  place,  and  has 
1  continued  to  instruct  and  affect  me  to  the  present  hour. 

"A  week  ago,  I  was  thinking  on  the  tender  love  of  Jesus 
1  Christ  to  His  disciples  while  with  them  in  person,  and  on 

*  their  love  to  Him.     My  bosom  caught  the  passion.     I  was 
1  melted  into  tears:     The  love  of  Jesus  affected  me  as  it  never 
'  had  before — and  as  I  want  language  to  convey  any  idea  of  to 

*  others,  or  even  to  revive  it  in  my  own  mind,  if  I  ever  forget 
4  the  sensations  of  that  and  the  two  following  days.     Now 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  297 

1  these  things  are  encouraging.  And  my  base  heart  wants 
1  encouragement.  They  are  tokens  for  good — 'the  day  of 
t  small  things;'  and  to  me  who  have  lived  such  a  fruitless  and 
c  guilty  life,  they  are  precious  intimations  of  the  returning 
1  kindness  of  my  faithful  Redeemer.  I  make  my  boast  of 
1  them — and  thank  God  that  His  grace  has  not  suffered  them 
1  to  be  entirely  lost  upon  me."* 

"SABBATH,  llth  September. 
"I  am  in  great  doubts  respecting  my  true  spiritual  state. — 

*  Generally  fears — fears  lulled  only  by  insensibility  prevail. 

*  But  to-day,  the  exercises  of  my  mind,  formed  an  exception. 

*  I  enjoyed  a  confidence  of  hope  in  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ  al- 
1  together  unusual. 

"In  the  morning  the  depression  of  animal  spirits  and  gene- 
'  ral  dulness  under  which  I  laboured,  almost  discouraged  me 
1  from  seeking  the  divine  blessing;  but  God  gave  me,  I  cannot 
1  tell  how,  grace  to  rise  above  the  temptation,  and  to  shake 
(  off  my  sloth.  I  engaged  in  fervent  secret  prayer,  and  con- 
1  tinned  long  in  it,  from  the  sweetness  of  pouring  out  my  con-. 
{  fessions  and  desires  into  the  bosom  of  my  Heavenly  Father. 
{  Devotion  gave  to  my  mind  a  tone  which  grace  enabled  it 
{ to  support  through  the  day.  I  was  enabled  for  Christ,  and 
1  through  Him,  to  surmount  several  temptations:  and  got  an 
1  impulse  towards  God  which  sent  me  a  little  heavenward, 
{  against  the  winds  and  tides  of  this  world. 

"I  found  out  a  number  of  long  hidden  secrets  this  day,  and 
c  the  evening  following;  as,  the  charm  which  engages  pious 
1  people  in  the  reading  of  the  missionary  and  other  pious  la-  ] 

*  I  have  been  reminded  by  this  passage,  of  an  old  Latin  epigram  remarka- 
ble for  antithesis,  as  well  as  for  force  and  beauty  of  sentiment : 
"Pro  servis  dominus  moritur,  pro  sontibus  insons 
Pro  aegroto  medicus,  pro  grege  pastor  obit. 
Pro  populo  rex  mactatur,  pro  milite  ductor 
Proque  opere  ipse  opifex,  proque  homine  ipse  Deus 
Quid  servus,  sons,  aegrotus,  quid  grex  populusque 
Quid  miles,  quid  opus,  quidve  homo  solvat?  Amet. 
38 


298  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

{  hours  of  such  as  are  spreading  the  gospel:  the  reason  and 
1  source  of  that  fervid  eloquence  which  the  advocates  of 
1  those  blessed  charities,  and  of  truth  generally,  in  these  days7 
1  so  often  discover,  to  my  former  perplexity.'' 

"SABBATH  NIGHT,  September  25th. 

"Doubtful — yet  hoping.  Can  unassisted  nature,  stirring 
( in  my  breast,  produce  such  a  love  of  the  Bible?  such  a  con- 
'  quest  over  my  revengeful  tempers  ?  such  pleasure  in  the  se- 
1  cret  worship  of  God  ?  such  respect  to  future  retributions? 
1  such  a  reverence  of  God's  providential  care?  s^ich  a  percep- 

I  tion  of  the  divine  excellence  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ? 

I 1  know  that  all  these  things  are  to  be  found  in  me  but  in  a 
( most  imperfect  degree.     But  would  they  exist  in  this  corrupt 
'  breast  at  all,  if  not  inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit?     If  not,  then 
( may  I  not  with  deep  humility,   and  taking  my  station 
( amongst  the  less  than  least  of  all  saints,  plead  a  covenant 
( interest  in  the  promise  of  God,  and  appropriate  some  of  the 
1  precious  hopes  and  confidence  which  belong  to  his  adopted 
4  children?     Lord  God,  instruct  and  confirm  me  in  thy  fear, 
( faith  and  love,  yet  more  and  more  to  the  end. " 

"SABBATH,  October  2d,  1825. 

"Alas !  how  the  world  runs  away  with  my  fluctuating  affec- 
1  tions !  I  thank  God  that  I  am  not  utterly  given  up  to  delu- 
<  sions,  nor  abandoned  of  hope. 

"I  have  some  remaining  sense  of  eternity — some  just  ap- 
c  prehensions  of  the  vanity  of  this  world  with  all  its  wealth— 
1  some  desires  after  communion  with  Gdd — some  reverence 
1  of  his  authority — as  much  hope  as  so  poor  a  professor  of  the 
c  gospel  ought  to  have  in  its  promises — some  desires  to  live  a 
1  life  of  humility,  meekness,  labour,  cross-bearing,  penitence, 
1  and  obedience,  before  God. 

"  I  thank  God,  that  His  spirit  has  taught  and  enabled  me 
i  the  week  past,  in  some  degree  to  get  the  better  of  my  vindic- 
'  live  feelings  towards  certain  individuals  who  have  very  se- 


LIFE    OF    ASIIMUN.  299 

*  riously  injured  me.     The  means  were  somewhat  remarka- 

*  ble.    I  had  seen  the  impropriety  of  indulging  in  the  bitter- 
'  ness  of  resentment  against  any  of  my  fellow-men — especially 
'  against  some,  who  being  professors  of  Christianity,  might 
1  yet  have  repentance  and  grace  given  them,  and  be  enthron- 
1  ed  in  the  divine  glory  in  Heaven.     But  whenever  I  recol- 
'  lected  the  extent  of  the  injury  I  had  experienced  at  their 
1  hands — the  greatest  perhaps  that  they  could  do  me,  short  of 
'  murdering  me  in  my  sins — and  that  I  must  continue  to  suf- 
'  fer  in  consequence,  to  my  dying  day — perhaps  my  -memory 

*  and  my  children  after  me — I  had  never  been  able  entirely  to 
1  suppress  the  stirrings  of  a  revengeful  and  bitter  spirit  in  my 

*  breast.     To  this  infirmity  one  thing  contributed:  I  was  not 
(  certain  that  the  precepts  of  Christ  required  me  to  forgive 
1  and  pass  over  the  offence,  till  I  had  evidence  that  the  per- 

<  sons  committing  the  injury,  had  repented,  and  undertaken 

*  to  prevent  the  effects  of  their  injurious  conduct.     To  settle 
f  this  point  of  duty,  I  determined  to  consult  every  precept  re- 

*  lating  to  the  duty  of  forgiveness  in  the  New  Testament; 
1  which  I  undertook  accordingly,  assisted  by  Scott's  notes 
6  and  references. 

"I  was  already  satisfied  that  I  ought  to  pray  for  them,  and 
1  indulge  nothing  like  malice  and  revenge.  But  the  question 
'  was,  'Am  I  to  treat  them  with  the  politeness  and  tenderness, 

<  and  kindness,  in  all  respects,  due  to  others  who  had  not  of- 

<  fended  me — or  who  having  offended,  had  offered  me  satis- 

<  faction?'     'Do  good  to  them,'  &c.  was  plain  I  knew;  but 
'  was  I  required  to  speak  to  them,  salute  them,  and  treat  them 
6  with  kindness,  if  they  ever  chanced  to  fall  in  my  way?  This 
'  was  the  question  to  be  resolved.     The  first  passage  I  con- 
1  suited  was  in  the  5th  of  St.  Matthew — 'If  ye  salute  your 

*  brethren,  only,  what  do  ye  more  than  others?     Do  not  even 

*  the  publicans  the  same?'     I  closed  the  blessed  book,  aston- 
4  ished,  convinced,  and  satisfied — with  an  involuntary  excla- 
'  mation  of  assent,  and  praise  to  God.    Since  that  time,  al- 


300  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

1  though  many  bad  and  sensual  passions  have  been  active  in 
'  my  breast,  yet  God  has  given  me  grace  to  forgive,  and  re- 
c  gard  the  formerly  so  obnoxious  individuals,  with  sincere 
1  kindness.  It  is  a  great  victory  which  the  power  of  Christ 
c  has  in  this  matter  gained  over  the  strong  and  inveterate  malice 
1  of  a  very  hard  and  revengeful  heart.  To  Him  be  praise. 

"I  have  also  another  instance  of  the  great  goodness  of  my 
1  God.     Owing  to  the  failure  of  an  expected  remittance  from 

*  America,  I  was  almost  in  despair — and  in  great  anxiety  and 
1  trouble    on    account  of  an  acceptance  to  a   considerable 
1  amount,  considering  my  circumstances — and  the  payment 
1  was  to  be  made  in  specie; — of  which  there  was  next  to  none 
1  not  pledged,  in  the  Colony.     In  my  extremity  I  betook  my- 

I  self  to  my  Father  in  Heaven.     The  burthen  was  soon  after 
4  in  a  good  measure  removed,  and  that  in  a  way  most  unex- 
£  pected." 

"November  kth,  1825. 

"Mrs.  Tabum  is  said  to  be  in  her  last  agonies.     To  Thee, 
'  Father  of  Spirits,  Father  of  Heaven,  and  Father  of  Mercies, 

I 1  commend  her  soul.     Suffer  her  not  to  fall  from  thy  grace, 

<  in  this  the  season  of  her  extremity.     Make  thou,  God,  her 

<  deliverance  from  the  fear  and  sting  of  death,  thy  care.     She 
1  has  professed  the  name  of  Christ,  before  many  witnesses. — 
£  May  she  be  now  received  into  thy  glory — and  through  the 
c  merits  of  the  Redeemer,  /be  owned  of  Him,  whom  I  trust 
1  she  has  not  denied.     O  !  Lord  God,  hear  this  my  last  prayer 

<  for  her — give  her  assured  and  victorious  faith,  and  may  she 
1  if  called  this  day  or  this  hour,  to  her  eternal  estate — this  day 
1  or  this  hour,  be  with   Christ  her  Lord,  in  Paradise.     O  ! 
1  Jesus,  thy  rich  mercy  and  grace  is  all  my  hope — and  it  is  a 

*  sure  ground  of  hope  for  this  thy  servant.     To  Thee  and 
1  thine  eternal  love,  be  all  the  honour  and  praise  of  her  eternal 
1  salvation.     Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to 
1  the  Holy  Ghost;  as  it  was  in  the  beginning,  is  now,  and  ever 

*  shall  be,  world  without  end.    Amen. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  301 

"SABBATH,  November  27th>  1825. 

"My  Mercies. — 1st.  The  great  dispensation  of  mercy 
4  through  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  under  which,  in  common 
1  with  my  fellow-men  of  this  age,  I  live;  and  in  virtue  of 
4  which  the  good  things  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  the  prom- 

*  ise  of  the  life  to  come,  are  enjoyed. 

"Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow, 
Praise  him  all  creatures  here  below — 
Praise  Him  above,  ye  heavenly  host, 
Praise  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost." 

"2d.  The  Revelation  of  the  great  mercy  of  God  through 
'  His  Son,  which  I  was  early  made  acquainted  with,  and  never 
'  suffered  entirely  and  openly  to  discard. 

"3d.  The  firm  faith  given  me  from  on  high,  by  the  renew- 
'  ing  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit — even  'when  I  was  dead 
1  in  trespasses  and  sins' — and  the  conservation  of  this  prin- 
<  ciple  in  my  soul,  although  neglected,  despised,  and  ungrate- 
'  fully  forgotten  by  myself,  in  repeated  and  grievous  back- 

*  slidings,  and  under  the  provocation  of  innumerable  presump- 
'  tuous  sins. 

"4th.  My  preservation  from  an  untimely  death,  in  repeat- 
1  ed  instances,  when  others  have  fallen  in  multitudes  around 
'  me;  and  when  it  seemed  to  myself  and  others  nearly  in- 
1  evitable. 

"5th.  My  deliverance,  so  far  as  I  have  been,  perhaps,  able 
{ to  bear  it,  from  a  state  of  wounding  ignominy — rendering, 
1  during  its  continuance,  life  itself  an  intolerable  burthen;  and 
1  naturally  urging  me  to  despair,  and  utter  abandonment. 

"  'Out  of  the  depths,  hast  thou  delivered  me.' 

"6th.  Removing  me  from  the  snares  of  Satan  in  America,. 
c  and  fixing  me  in  a  situation  here,  suited  to  wean  me  from 
1  those  sins  which  must  otherwise  have  proved  my  destruc- 
1  tion  in  that  country. 

"7th.     Giving  me  success  in  my  administration. 

"8th.  Providentially  aiding  me,  in  my  deliberations,  and 
c  active  labours  for  the  government  and  welfare  of  this  people. 


302  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

"9th.     Giving  me,  in  this  country,  a  number  of  attached 

<  and  steady  friends. 

"10th.  Providentially  aiding  me  in  the  discharge  of  my 
c  pecuniary  and  other  obligations — in  many  instances — espe- 
1  cially  in  this  one  (Ferbin — Specie,  &c.) 

"llth.     The  growth  of  certain  moral  qualities  in  my  mind, 

<  which  I  cannot  name,  I  fear,  without  danger  of  self-flattery; 
4  but  which  I  gratefully  and  humbly  attribute  to  the  great 

<  goodness  of  my  Heavenly  Father — and  without  which  I 
c  know  I  can  never  see  His  face.     'Blessed  are  the  pure  in 
1  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God.'    Lord,  I  pray  for  this  purity." 

He  who  knows  not  the  natural  effect  of  humility,  may 
wonder  that  a  man  of  high  religious  attainments  should  dis- 
cern in  his  heart  and  life,  so  much  cause  for  regret  and  so 
little  for  self-complacency.  But  to  see  distinctly,  the  eye 
must  be  clear  and  the  object  in  the  light.  He  whose  intel- 
lectual vision  is  undimmed  by  sense,  who  looks  upon  his 
character  in  the  light  of  the  Divine  Law,  will  need  no  one 
to  interpret  to  him  the  language  of  Job,  commended  of  God 
for  his  integrity — "I  have  heard  of  Thee  by  the  hearing  of 
the  ear,  but  now  my  eye  seeth  Thee;  wherefore  I  abhor  myself, 
and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes;"  or  the  penitent  confession  of 
Paul,  chief  among  Apostles,  and  exalted  to  revelations  unut- 
terable, of  heavenly  glory,  that  he  was  "less  than  the  least  of 
all  saints."  The  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  observa- 
tion: in  the  retirement  of  his  own  mind,  the  Christian  detects 
his  foes,  fights-  his  battles,  and  achieves  his  victories.  At 
every  avenue  of  temptation  he  sets  a  watch,  fortifies  himself 
when  weak,  rouses  his  slumbering  conscience,  restrains  his 
vagrant  imagination,  chains  his  wrathful  passions,  confirms 
his  reason,  summons  fortitude  to  endurance,  and  resolution 
to  expel  from  his  soul  the  .enemies  of  his  peace,  and  establish 
therein  the  eternal  empire  of  truth  and  righteousness.  The 
world  knows  him  not. 

Such  a  man  will  not  measure  himself  by  human  opinion, 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  303 

but  by  a  perfect  standard  of  duty.  The  brightest  parts  of  his 
character  will  appear  to  him  darkness  in  contrast  with  the 
Divine,  and  those  actions  which  mankind  admire,  be  deemed 
unworthy  of  the  approbation  of  God.  Others  may  observe 
in  him  dispositions  which  he  notes  as  deficient,  and  fail  to 
discern  those  which  it  is  his  great  object  to  repress.  The  faults 
to  which  others  may  think  him  least  liable,  it  may  have  cost 
him  the  most  pains  to  correct;  and  the  virtues  which  were 
most  alien  to  his  nature,  have  become,  by  culture,  the  orna- 
ments of  his  person. 

It  is  a  striking  fact,  that  in  the  judgment  of  his  friends, 
Mr.  Ashmun  was  distinguished  for  the  virtues  opposite  to 
the  faults,  set  down  in  his  private  Journal,  as  those,  which  he 
was  most  inclined  and  accustomed  to  commit.  He  speaks  of 
himself  as  "fickle  and  ever  varying  in  his  temperament;"  as 
"deficient  in  independent  fortitude;"  as  "precipitate"  in  action; 
as  addicted  to  "censoriousness;"  whereas,  the  writer  can  tes- 
tify from  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  him,  during,  perhaps, 
the  most  trying  period  of  his  life,  that  fortitude  and  meekness, 
humility  and  charity,  pervaded  with  their  blended  influences 
his  entire  character,  and  elevated  him  tranquilly  and  triumph- 
antly above  all  the  discomposing  vicissitudes  of  life. 

"As  some  tall  cliff  that  lifts  its  awful  form, 
Swells  from  the  vale,  and  midway  leaves  the  storm, 
Though  round  its  breast  the  rolling  clouds  are  spread, 
Eternal  sun-shine  settles  on  its  head." 


CHAPTER   XV. 


PEW  men  give  stronger  proofs  of  disinterestedness,  than 
the  managers  of  our  large  charitable  Institutions.  Their  of- 
fice is  without  emolument;  the  reputation  they  may  acquire, 
wants  the  individuality  that  tempts  ambition;  and  the  time  and 
thought  devoted  by  them  to  their  object,  is  seldom  known 
and  more  rarely  appreciated  by  the  public. 

The  Managers  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  en- 
gaged in  a  work  difficult,  remote,  to  which  hindrances  and 
discouragements  were  incident  in  its  early  stages,  and  the 
greatest  benefits  of  which,  will  be  seen  only  by  posterity. — 
They  have  devoted  to  it  a  liberal  share  of  time  and  attention. 
They  have  made  to  it  large  sacrifices  of  convenience  and  in- 
terest. They  have  prosecuted  it,  earnestly,  perseveringly, 
resolutely,  and  with  success.  The  effects  of  their  labours 
shall  survive  them — a  nation  will  be  their  monument. 

The  commencement  of  the  year  1826,  found  Mr.  Ashmun 
at  the  head  of  a  prosperous  Colony,  which  the  Managers  of 
the  Society,  encouraged  by  his  statements,  were  prepared, 

39 


306  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

vigorously  to  sustain  and  enlarge.  This  Colony,  and  he 
who  was  its  defender  and  guide,  had  become,  extensively,  ob- 
jects of  interest  and  affection,  to  the  people  of  the  U.  States. 

On  the  23d  of  January,  1826,  Mr.  Ashmun  wrote  to  the 
Board — "Our  town  begins  to  assume  the  appearance  of  a 
1  beautiful  little  commercial  West  India  seaport;  and  certain- 
1  ly  has  one  of  the  most  delightful  situations  on  the  face  of 
'  the  globe.  In  beauty,  and  grandeur  of  prospect,  no  station 
'  can  be  taken  on  the  Potomac  half  so  charming,  or  half  so 
{  commanding.  It  would,  I  am.  confident,  prove  to  the  mem- 
1  bers  of  your  Board,  an  ample  remuneration  for  much  of 
<  their  disinterested  labours  for  Africa — to  make  a  single  visit 
1  to  their  Colony,  and  see  a  well-organized,  improving,  and 
'  Christian  society,  founded  by  their  hands,  deservedly 
(  taking  rank  among  the  most  virtuous  and  happy  comrnu- 
'  nities."* 

*  Having  expressed  his  purpose  soon  to  return  to  the  United  States,  he 
adds: — "Am  I  wrorig  in  my  expectations  that  the  friends  of  the  Colony  will 
make  one  strenuous  and  united  effort  to  obtain  this  winter  for  it,  (the  Colony) 
the  patronage  of  Congress?  The  Board  have  done  well;  they  have,  I  think, 
redeemed  every  pledge  and  fulfilled  every  hope  held  out  by  the  Society  to  the 
world.  But  they  can  do  little  or  nothing  more  in  this  country.  The  concern 
is  becoming  too  extensive  for  the  funds  of  any  private  Society  to  sustain.  You 
have,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  letter,  a  line  of  one  hundred  miles  to  protect — 
establishments  forming  on  every  part  of  it  to  maintain  and  cherish — harbours 
to  fortify — a  coasting  and  inland  trade  to  regulate— military  expeditions  to  pro- 
vide for — schools,  hospitals,  and  benevolent  institutions  of  various  descrip- 
tions to  endow,  and  in  one  word,  you  have  from  this  time,  a  little  empire  to 
create  and  advance  to  maturity.  To  throw  emigrants  into  the  Colony,  while 
the  venj  frame  of  it  is  left  without  support,  is  a  thing  easily  done— but  it  will 
subvert  it.  A  shelter  must  first  be  provided,  and  well  sustained.  This  work 
is  first  in  order,  the  introduction  of  Colonists  is  next.  That  provision  neglect- 
ed— I  say  it  with  great  assurance,  the  coloured  people  of  the  U.  States  are  bet- 
ter in  that  country." 

The  Colonization  Society  sustained,  as  several  of  our  charitable  institutions 
are,  may  do  much;  and  in  the  writer's  opinion,  the  Colony,  without  aid  from 
Government,  will  grow  and  prosper.  Still  he  believes  with  Mr.  Ashmun,  that 
immediate,  earnest,  and  persevering  applications  for  assistance,  to  the  States 
and  c  Congress,  are  reqnin  d  on  grounds  of  humanity,  policy,  and  duty. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  307 

In  the  same  letter,  he  stated  that  during  the  preceding 
year,  he  had  expended  in  the  purchase  of  lands,  and  in  found- 
ing of  settlements  at  a  distance  from  the  Cape,  ahout  eight 
hundred  dollars;  and  had  learned  with  pleasure,  that 
it  was  the  intention  of  the  Board,  to  send  out  a  large  compa- 
ny of  emigrants.  He  expressed  his  regret,  that  the  interests 
of  the  Society  and  Colony  should  suffer,  for  want  of  a  regular 
correspondence;  and  his  hope  that  arrangements  would  soon 
be  made  with  some  commercial  house  in  the  United  States, 
by  which  two  or  three  vessels  should  be  constantly  employed 
as  packets  to  ply  between  this  country  and  Liberia.  He 
suggested  that  a  wealthy  merchant  of  New  England,  who  had 
already  commenced  trade  with  Liberia,  might  agree  on  terms 
advantageous,  and  at  regular  intervals,  to  convey  emigrants 
and  supplies  to  the  Colony.  He  stated  that  this  individual 
had  been  given  to  understand,  that  the  Colonists  would  re- 
gard themselves  as  under  no  obligations  to  favour  his  com- 
mercial views,  unless  lumber*  should  be  found  a  prominent 
article  imported  in  each  of  his  vessels. 

The  Managers  were  reminded  in  the  same  letter,  of  the 
necessity  of  adding  to  the  School  books  and  stationary  of  the 
Colony. 

On  two  points  of  importance,  in  his  view,  to  the  success 
of  the  Agency,  Mr.  Ashmun  at  this  time,  modestly,  but  very 
decidedly,  expressed  his  opinions.  The  first,  related  to  the 
appointment,  by  the  Board,  of  assistant  Agents;  and  the 
second,  to  a  provision  in  the  early  Constitution,!  established 
by  the  Society  for  the  Government  of  its  African  settlement, 
by  which  authority  was  vested  in  a  Board  of  Agents,  who 

*  This  fact  shows  with  what  industry  the  settlers  were  employed,  in  con- 
structing houses  and  public  buildings. 

f  This  provision  was  evidently  abrogated  by  the  form  of  Government  es- 
tablished in  1824,  but  Mr.  Ashmun  seems  to  have  been  doubtful  whether  the 
Board  so  understood  the  matter — or  what  is  more  probable,  might  not,  when 
this  letter  was  penned,  have  received  intelligence  of  the  confirmaticr  of  the 
new  form  of  Government  by  the  Board. 


308  LIFE    OF    ASH M UN. 

were  to  discuss  and  settle  by  their  united  counsels,  the  public 
affairs. 

On  the  subject  of  Assistants,  lie  declared  that  none  was  in- 
finitely preferable  to  persons  of  ordinary  qualifications.— 
Though  he  had  performed,  for  years,  the  duties  of  several 
active  men,  "he  would  sooner  continue  to  sustain  the  burthen, 
c  than  be  troubled  with  young  men  not  of  very  superior  qual- 
1  ifications."  "My  ideas,"  he  adds,  "of  the  point  of  perfection 

I  to  which  every  department  of  duties  devolving  on  the  pub- 
*  lie  servants,  ought  to  be  brought,  are  such,  as  entirely  to  ex- 
'  elude,  from  our  little  system,  all  half  formed  instruments. 

I 1  would  rather  see  all  such,  in  use  at  home,  where  their  ex- 
1  ample  is  to  have  less  effect  on  the  community  they  live  in. 
1  The  truth  is,  Sir,  we  have  men  of  superior  sense  and  dis- 
4  cernment  amongst  us — some  are  not  wholly  destitute  of 
'  good  taste — and  Monrovia  is  the  constant  resort  of  foreign- 
1  ers:     The  youth  of  the  Colony  require  improving  exam- 
1  pies,  and  it  is  probable  that  a  person  not  highly  respected 
f  and  useful  in  the  United  States,  would  be  less  so  here." 

In  regard  to  a  Board  of  Agents,  he  believed  that  it  was 
certain  to  be  attended  with  most  injurious  effects.  He  refer- 
red to  the  total  failure  in  the  operations  of  the  Government, 
in  every  instance,  in  which  authority  had  been  divided  among 
the  members  of  such  a  Board.  He  declared  that  to  a  Colony 
circumstanced  as  that  was,  the  advantages  of  one  directing 
head,  were  incalculable;  and  that  much  of  the  strife  and  an- 
archy of  former  years  would  return,  should  the  powers  of  the 
Managers,  in  the  Colony,  be  confided  to  a  Board  of  Agents. 

Before  the  arrival  of  this  communication,  it  had  been  deter- 
mined to  despatch  two  expeditions  to  the  Colony. 

The  brig  Vine,  with  thirty-four  emigrants,*  a  Missionary, 

*  These  emigrants  were  mostly  from  Newport,  Rhode  Island.  Eighteen 
of  their  number  were  just  before  their  departure,  at  their  own  request,  organ- 
ized into  a  church,  and  the  impressive  exercises  of  the  occasion,  upon  which 
thousands  attended,  deepened  the  concern  for  the  prosperity  of  the  expedition. 


LIFE    OF    ASITMUN.  309 

(the  Rev.  Calvin  Holton)  and  a  Printer,  accompanied  by  the 
Rev.  Horace  Sessions,  an  Agent  of  the  Society,  who  proposed 
to  return  in  the  same  vessel,  sailed  from  Boston,  on  the  4th 
of  January,  and  arrived  at  Liberia  on  the  seventh  of  Febru- 
ary. A  press,  with  its  necessary  appendages,  many  valuable 
books  and  other  important  articles,  were  sent  out  in  this  ves- 
sel, by  the  generous  citizens  of  Boston,  who  assumed  the  en- 
tire expense  of  the  printing  establishment  for  the  first  year. 

The  Indian  Chief  left  Norfolk  with  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
four  persons,  mostly  from  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  on  the 
15th  of  February,  and  completed  her  passage  on  the  22d  of 
March.  In  this  vessel,  went  as  passenger,  Dr.  John  W.  Pea- 
co,  A^ent  of  Government  for  the  recaptured  Africans,  who 
was  empowered,  also,  to  act  as  an  assistant  Agent,  and  Phy- 
sician for  the  Colony. 

By  the  return  of  the  Vine,  Mr.  Ashmun  informed  the 
Board,  that  the  greatest  benefits  were  to  be  expected  from  the 
press  and  from  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Holton,  who  had  been  em- 
ployed by  the  Society  to  establish  and  superintend,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Agent,  a  system  of  Colonial  education.  He 
expressed  his  intention  of  sending,  in  future,  at  regular 
periods,  and  in  a  printed  form,  all  important  public  docu- 
ments, and  a  copious  compend  of  the  public  Journal.  He 
stated  that  Mr.  Holton  (of  whose  excellent  qualifications  for 
this  work,  and  entire  devotion  to  duty,  he  felt  assured)  would 
organize  a  system  of  instruction,  to  embrace  all  learners — of 
all  the  four  classes:  1st.  The  children  of  the  Colonists; 
2d.  Native  children  living  in  the  settlement.  3d.  Recap- 
tured Africans  (of  wham  there  were  one  hundred  and  twenty); 
and  4th.  A  class  of  young  men  and  women,  either  actually 
engaged  as  teachers,  or  preparing  to  become  such.  It  had 
been  determined  to  adopt  the  Lancasterian  method  of  in- 
struction among  the  lower  classes,  while  the  higher  would 
enjoy  the  lectures  and  personal  tuition  of  the  Principal. 

We  have  seen  how  strong  was  the  affection  of  Mr.  Ashmun 


310  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

for  the  cause  of  Missions.  The  Baptist  Board  of  Missions  in 
the  United  States,  had  instructed  the  Rev.  Mr.  Holton,  to  act 
as  their  Missionary  in  Africa;  and  to  animate  the  efforts  of 
this  Institution,  Mr.  Ashmun  made  to  it  a  grant  (subject  to 
the  decision  of  the  Board)  of  a  tract  of  ground  adjoining  to 
Monrovia,  on  the  condition  that  a  School-house  should  be 
forthwith  erected  upon  it,  and  devoted  forever  to  Missionary 
purposes. 

Sounds  of  joy  were  still  heard  in  the  settlement  on  account 
of  the  arrival  of  the  Vine,  and  Mr.  Ashmun  had  found  time 
only  to  consider  how  he  should  best  direct  this  new  accession 
of  numbers  and  means  to  the  good  of  the  Colony,  when  the  en- 
tire company  were  attacked  by  the  worst  form  of  African  fever, 
and  about  half  their  number,  which  was  subsequently  increas- 
ed, including  Messrs.  Sessions,  Holton,  and  Force  (the  Prin- 
ter), fell  victims  to  its  power.  "It  was  the  will  of  God,"  said  Mr. 
Ashmun,  "which  often  humbles  the  pride  of  human  theories, 
1  disappoints  human  hopes,  and  covers  with  the  wreck  of  its 
c  plans,  so  large  a  space  of  human  life."* 

The  Rev.  Horace  Sessions  had  but  just  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  his  sacred  office,  when  he  accepted  an  Agency  for 
the  Society,  and  did  much  to  kindle  the  zeal  and  arouse  the  ex- 
ertions of  New  England  in  behalf  of  Africa.  He  superin- 
tended the  embarkation  of  the  emigrants  by  the  Vine,  accom- 
panied them  to  Liberia,  to  acquire  information  which  might 
render  more  efficient  his  future  exertions  for  the  Colony,  and 
on  his  passage  home,  was  summoned  from  the  labours 
and  trials  of  this  world,  to  the  endless  happiness  of  a  better. 

*  With  one  exception,  these  emigrants  were  either  natives  of  the  North- 
ern States,  or  had  long  resided  there.  They  left  Boston  in  the  depth  of  win- 
ter, and  arrived  in  Liberia  during  the  hottest  season  of  the  African  year.  "The 
disadvantage  of  the  rains,"  says  Mr.  Ashmun,  "has  long  since  proved  itself 
to  consist  chiefly  in  want  of  shelters,  and  not  in  any  particular  malignity  of 
the  atmosphere  in  that  season: — an  inconvenience  now  no  longer  felt,  and 
•which  at  worst,  is  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  advantage  of  leaving 
America  in  summer." 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  311 

His  remains  sleep  with  those  of  the  beloved  Mills  in  the  depths 
of  the  ocean;  but  they  rest  secure  under  the  protection  of  Him 
"who  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life/3  and  who  will  finally 
bring  the  dispersed  bodies  of  His  saints  from  every  land  and 
every  sea,  into  reunion  with  their  souls  in  glory  everlasting. 

The  Rev.  Calvin  Holton  had  visited  Africa  under  the  in- 
fluence of  that  divine  charity  which  is  now  animating  his 
brethren  in  India  and  in  Burmah,  to  win  immortal  honours, 
not  by  the  weapons  or  the  machinations  of  a  wordly  policy, 
but  by  the  powers  of  truth  and  goodness,  urged  to  victory, 
over  the  worst  vices  that  debase  and  ruin  our  nature.  For 
some  time  after  his  first  attack  of  fever,  he  was  thought  to  be 
convalescent.  In  July  he  gradually  declined,  until  on  the 
23d  of  that  month,  he  gently  expired.  "He  laboured,"  said 
Mr.  Ashmun,  "at  no  period  of  his  illness,  under  the  appre- 
1  hension  of  death;  and  often  in  the  most  dangerous  crises  of 

*  his  disorder,  was  as  little  concerned  about  the  issue,  as  in 
'  the  most  flattering  convalescence.     His  spirits  were  uniform- 
'  ly  sustained  by  a  steadfast  faith  in  the  promises  of  Christ; 
'  to  whom,  in  an  early  stage  of  his  sickness,  he  had  resigned 
'  himself,  without  reserve,  and  appeared  never  after  to  admit, 

*  for  a  moment,  any  distressing  anxiety  as  to  the  termination 
'  of  his  affliction."     The  power  of  his  religion,  was  seen  not 
more  in  his  life,  than  in  his  death;   he  had  so  detached  his 
affections  from  this  world,  that  he  could  leave  it  without  re- 
gret; and  he  died  as  a  Christian  should  die,  anticipating  the 
gracious  rewards  of  fidelity,  and  the  glories  of  the  Divine 
presence. 

In  cheering  contrast  with  the  melancholy  fate  of  the  emi- 
grants by  the  Vine,  were  the  circumstances  of  the  larger 
company  by  the  Indian  Chief,  who  free  from  all  alarming 
disease,  experienced  little  suffering,*  while  some  of  their  num- 

t  But  three  of  this  company,  (one  hundred  and  fifty-four)  one  adult,  and 
two  small  children,  died  in  the  course  of  the  season,  and  these  from  other 
causes  than  climate. 


312  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

ber  who  left  Virginia  in  bad  health,  derived,  ultimately,  be- 
nefit from  the  change  of  climate. 

A  survey  was  almost  immediately  made,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Mr.  Ashmun,  of  lands  on  the  St.  Paul's  river  and 
Stockton  creek  (a  small  stream  uniting  that  river  to  the  Mont- 
serado);  and  in  the  month  of  June,  no  less  than  thirty-three 
plantations  on  the  creek,  (at  the  distance  of  half-way  between 
Monrovia  and  Caldwell,  the  settlement  on  the  St.  Paul's)  and 
seventy-seven  at  Caldwell,  were  occupied  by  settlers,  most  of 
whom  had  arrived  by  the  Vine  and  Indian  Chief.  "Hav- 
ing," said  Mr.  Ashmun,  "disposed  so  soon  of  these  emigrants, 
*  most  of  whom  will  be  on  their  own  lands,  and  in  their  own 
1  houses,  in  four  weeks  from  the  present  time  (June  21st),  I 
1  trust  you  will  not  think  it  unreasonable  in  us,  to  ask  for  more. 
'  Let  them  come,  as  soon  as  they  can  be  despatched,  provided 
1  lumber  and  six  or  eight  months'  stores  come  with  them.  If 
'  they  come  from  the  South,  they  cannot  come  very  unseason- 
c  ably  in  any  part  of  the  year.  *  .  More  funds,  more  ac- 
i  tivity,  more  emigrants,  and  I  am  satisfied.  Has  the  hope 
1  of  liberal  appropriation,  by  the  State  Legislatures,  been 
'  given  up?  A  slaveholding  State  must  take  the  lead,  and 
'  give  an  example  in  the  exercise  of  this  noblest  of  public 
1  charities.  Others  will  then  follow." 

On  the  16th  of  April,  during  the  absence  of  Mr.  Ashmun 
and  four  other  members  of  his  family,  at  the  Anniversary 
Meeting  of  the  Liberia  Missionary  Society,  at  Monrovia,  the 
Agency-House  which  he  had  occupied  for  several  weeks,  at 
Caldwell,  was  struck  and  much  injured  by  lightning,  and 
the  only  person  in  it,  the  Housekeeper,  instantly  killed.  The 
event  is  mentioned  with  much  sensibility,  and  an  acknow- 
ledgment of  God's  providential  care,  by  Mr.  Ashmun,  who 
adds — "The  impression  was  deeper,  more  lasting,  and  more 
'  effectual  than  any  which  had  been  made  on  my  heart  for  a 
'  long  time  before." 

An  expedition,  assisted  by  the  Captains  and  crews  of  two 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  313 

Colombian  armed  vessels,  was  conducted,  during  this  month, 
by  Mr.  Aslmum,  against  Trade  Town,  a  notorious  slave 
mart,  one  hundred  miles  south  of  Cape  Montserado,  which 
terminated  in  the  capture  of  three  vessels,  engaged  in  the 
slave  trade,  the  liberation  of  fifty-three  slaves,  and  the  entire 
destruction  of  the  establishment, 

A  Spanish  schooner,  (the  Minerva,)  while  waiting  for  the 
collection  of  her  cargo,  of  three  hundred  slaves,  at  Trade 
Town,  had  committed  piracy  on  American  and  other  vessels, 
and  obtained  possession  of  several  recaptured  Africans  be- 
longing to  the  United  States'  Agency  in  Liberia.  Mr.  Ash- 
mun,  as  Agent  of  the  United  States,  demanded  of  the  Spanish 
Factor  and  native  authorities  of  that  place,  the  restoration  of 
these  Africans,  and  threatened  in  case  of  refusal,  to  destroy, 
as  soon  as  Providence  should  grant  him  power,  entirely  and 
forever,  that  nest  of  iniquity.  The  demand  was  treated  with 
contempt.  Intelligence  of  the  character  of  the  Spanish  schoon- 
er was  communicated  by  Mr.  Ashmun  to  the  commander  of  a 
French  brig  of  war,  who  soon  captured  her,  though  her  esta- 
blishment on  shore,  at  which  two  hundred  and  seventy-six 
slaves  were  ready  to  be  shipped  to  America^  remained  unmo- 
lested. 

Early  in  January,  were  landed  at  Trade  Town,  from  a 
French  schooner,  (the  Perle,)  goods  sufficient  for  the  pur- 
chase of  two  hundred  and  forty  slaves,  though  in  April,  she 
had  obtained  but  one  hundred  and  twenty-six. 

A  Brigantine,  (the  Teresa,)  from  Havanna,  armed  with 
seven  large  carriage  guns,  and  manned  with  forty-two  men, 
with  goods  for  the  purchase  of  three  hundred  slaves,  arrived 
in  March,  landed  about  one-third  of  her  cargo,  and  had  com- 
menced her  odious  trade. 

Three  slave  factories  were  in  full  operation  in  Trade  Town, 
guarded  by  two  vessels,  mounting  between  them,  eleven  car- 
riage guns,  and  having  a  complement  of  sixty  men  and  twen- 
ty more  on  shore,  all  well  armed;  when  on  the  9th  of  April. 

40 


314  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

arrived  at  Monrovia,  the  Colombian  armed  schooner  Jacinta; 
Captain  Chase,  who  in  accordance  with  the  instructions  of 
his  Government,  offered  to  co-operate  with  Dr.  Peaco  (then 
Principal  Agent  of  the  United  States  for  the  recaptured  Af- 
ricans,) and  Mr.  Ashmun,  in  any  plan  they  might  adopt  for 
the  punishment  of  these  offenders  against  justice,  and  the  laws 
of  nearly  the  whole  civilized  world.     The  offer  of  Captain 
Chase,  was  accepted;  and  on  the  10th  of  April,  Mr.  Ashmun, 
accompanied  by  Captain  Cochran  of  the  Indian  Chief,  who 
generously  offered  to  become  his  aid,  and  thirty-two  volun- 
teers of  the  Colonial  Militia,  embarked  in  the  Jacinta;  and  on 
the  llth,  arrived  off  Trade  Town,  and  had  the  happiness  to 
find  anchored  there,  the  Colombian  brig  of  war  El  Yincidor? 
Captain  Cottrell,  mounting  twelve  guns,  which  had  the  same 
afternoon  captured,  after  a  short  action,  the  Brigantine  Tere- 
sa.    Captain  Cottrell  agreed  to  unite  his  forces  with  those  of 
the  Colony  and  Jacinta,  in  an  attack  on  the  place.     It  was  re- 
solved to  attempt  a  landing  on  the  morning  of  the  12th,  over 
the  bar  of  the  river  in  front  of  the  town,  where  the  passage  is 
only  eight  yards  wide,  lined  on  both  sides  with  rocks,  and 
across  which,  at  that  time,  the  surf  broke  so  furiously  as  to  en- 
danger even  light  boats,  and  leave  scarce  a  hope  of  the  safety 
of  barges  filled  with  armed  men. 

The  Spaniards  were  seen  drawn  up  on  the  beach  within 
half  musket  range  of  the  bar,  resolved  to  take  advantage 
of  any  accident  which  might  occur  to  the  boats,  and 
defeat,  if  possible,  the  attempt  of  those  on  board,  to 
reach  the  shore.  The  brig  and  schooner  were  ordered  to 
open  a  fire  on  the  town,  but  owing  to  their  distance,  their  shot 
produced  no  effect,  except  to  disperse  the  unarmed  natives 
who  had  assembled  as  spectators  of  the  scene. 

The  two  boats  in  advance,  commanded  by  Captains  Chase 
and  Cottrell,  were  exposed  to  a  rapid  fire  from  the  enemy,  and 
were  filled  by  the  surf,  before  they  reached  the  shore.  Their 
crews,  though  few  of  them  landed  with  dry  arms,  forced  the 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  315 

Spaniards  back  into  the  town.  The  flag  boat,  in  which  were 
Mr.  Ashmun,  Captain  Cochran,  and  twenty-four  men,  was 
upset,  and  dashed  upon  the  rocks;  several  of  the  men 
(among  whom  was  Mr.  Ashmun)  injured;  and  some  of  the 
arms,  with  all  the  ammunition,  lost.  Captain  Barbour  ob- 
serving the  dangers  of  those  who  preceded  him,  ran  his  boat 
oil  the  beach,  a  little  to  the  left  of  the  river's  mouth,  and  thus 
landed  in  safety. 

Immediate  possession  was  taken  of  the  town,  and  a  mes- 
senger despatched  to  King  West,  (the  principal  native  chief) 
demanding  the  delivery  of  all  the  slaves  belonging  to  the 
Factories.  He  was  told,  that  if  there  were  deception,  or  un-  I 
necessary  delay  in  the  matter,  not  a  vestige  of  Trade  Town 
should  exist  two  days  longer.  On  the  same  day,  the  Kroo- 
men  of  King  West,  brought  in  thirty-eight  slaves;  and  on  the 
next  morning,  fifteen  more;  the  latter  a  wretched  company, 
evidently  the  refuse  of  all  that  had  been  collected  at  the  sta- 
tion. The  natives  assembled  and  united  their  forces  to  those 
of  the  Spaniards,  and  continued  from  the  rear  of  their  towns, 
to  pour  in,  at  frequent  intervals,  their  shot  upon  their  inva- 
ders. Captain  Woodside,  Surgeon  of  the  Jacinta,  was  severe- 
ly wounded,  and  several  of  the  Colonial  Militia,  slightly. — 
Every  man  under  the  command  of  the  Colonial  Agent,  lay 
on  his  arms  during  the  night  of  the  12th;  and  until  noon,  on 
the  13th,  every  disposition  was  evinced  by  Mr.  Ashmun, 
to  settle,  peacefully,  the  questions  which  had  excited  hostili- 
ties. But  in  vain.  At  twelve  on  that  day,  the  boats  were 
prepared  just  outside  the  breakers,  to  receive  on  board  the 
rescued  slaves;  and  at  two,  the  canoes  began  to  carry  off  the 
marines;  and  at  half  past  three,  all  were  embarked,  the  offi- 
cers leaving  the  shore  last,  and  having  set  fire  to  the  princi- 
pal buildings  of  the  town.  "The  flames,"  says  Mr.  Ashmun, 
"  communicated  with  the  utmost  rapidity  to  every  roof;  and 
1  the  town  exhibited  a  single  immense  mass  of  flame,  before 
*  the  canoes  could  get  off  from  the  beach.  In  one  minute  af- 


316  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

'  ter,  the  explosion  of  some  single  casks  of  powder  commenced: 
*  and  the  moment  the  canoes  reached  the  boats,  a  scene  of  ter- 
'  rific  grandeur  was  displayed,  which  rivals  the  powers  of  de- 
1  scription.  It  was  the  effect  of  the  ignition,  at  the  same  mo- 
'  ment,  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  casks  of  gun-powder.  The 
1  concussion  shook  the  earth,  and  for  a  few  moments,  appear- 
'  ed  to  hold  the  very  swell  of  the  ocean  motionless.  Every 
'  vestige  of  what  was  once  Trade  Town,  was  swept  from  the 
'  ground  on  which  it  stood.  The  surrounding  country  and 
1  neighbouring  water,  were  strewed  with  ignited  thatch,  and 
£  house  palings  descending  from  a  height  of  more  than  one 
'  hundred  feet,  to  which  they  had  been  raised  by  the  explosion. 
i  A  quantity  of  these  ruins  fell  among  the  boats,  and  some 
'  heavier  objects  were  observed  to  be  carried  beyond  the  an- 
1  chorage,  which  was  more  than  a  mile  from  the  shore.  At 
1  half  past  four,  the  officers,  troops  and  slaves,  were  all  safely 
'  on  board,  and  on  their  way  with  a  light  breeze  for  Cape 
1  Montserado."* 

The  destruction  of  Trade  Town,  contributed  in  Mr.  Ash- 
mun's  judgment,  more  towards  the  suppression  of  the  slave 
trade,  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa,  north  of  the  Bight  of 
Benin,  than  any  one  single  event,  except  only  the  enactments 

*  Alluding  to  the  aid  which  he  had  received  from  the  Commanders  of  the 
Colombian  vessels,  Mr.  Ashmun  observes: — "Were  it  not  for  the  power  of 
prejudice,  aided  by  misrepresentation,  it  would  be  little  necessary  or  deco- 
rous for  me  to  observe,  that  the  dignity  of  the  Colombian  banner,  newly  dis- 
played on  this  ocean  in  defence  and  vindication  of  the  sacred  rights  of  human 
nature,  has  never  here  been  tarnished  by  an  act  upon  which  malevolence  it- 
self could  reflect  the  shadow  of  dishonour.  And  while  it  shall  float  over  the 
quarter  decks  of  such  commanders  as  a  Chase  and  a  Cottrell,  it  will  be  hailed, 
whenever  it  appears,  not  only  as  the  signal  of  victory,  but  as  the  best  guaran- 
ty of  a  rising  empire's  moral  greatness."  Of  Captain  Cochran,  he  says:  "His 
services  voluntarily  devoted  in  the  Trade  Town  expedition — and  which  were 
of  the  most  laborious  and  perilous,  as  well  as  useful  kind,- .deserve  something 
more  than  my  individual  acknowledgments.  I  owe  my  own  life,  in  one  in- 
stance, at  least,  to  the  promptness  with  which  he  interposed  his  own  person 
between  me  and  the  danger  which  threatened  it." 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  317 

of  the  English  and  American  Legislatures.  It  made  every 
slave  trader  along  the  coast,  feel  the  insecurity  of  his  com- 
merce; and  the  natives  of  a  great  extent  of  country,  sensible 
that  a  powerful  and  resolute  enemy  to  their  crimes,  had 
gained  establishment  on  their  shore.  "We  have  thought 
proper,"  wrote  Mr.  Ashmun  on  the  10th  of  May,  "to  interdict 
4  this  trade  on  the  whole  line  of  coast,  comprehended  between 

<  Cape  Mount  and  Trade  Town,  both  inclusive.  The  ground 
1  assumed,  is  that  of  a  qualified  jurisdiction  actually  held  by 
{ the  Colony  over  the  whole  district.     It  is  believed 'that  no 
'  slaver  coming  from  Europe  or  the  West  Indies,  will  proceed 
'  to  land  his  cargo  (and  without  landing  it  he  cannot  get 
'  slaves),  in  the  face  of  such  an  interdict,  formally  notified  to 
'  him;  which  we  can  easily  do  in  all  cases.     But,  in  case  his 
1  audacity  prevails  and  goods  are  landed,  we  have  only  to  an- 
'  nounce  to  the  native  Chiefs  of  the  place,  that  according  to 

<  the  laws  of  the  Colony,  those  goods  are  forfeit,  and  an  instant 
c  seizure  of  the  whole,  in  nine  out  of  ten  cases,  is  certain  to 
'  follow.     The  public  boats  now  on  the  stocks,  cannot  fail  to 
1  render  us  the  most  important  service  in  this  business — and 

<  our  hopes  are  high,  that  the  world  is  to  hear  little  or  noth- 
1  ing  more  of  the  ravages  of  this  detestable  and  outlawed 
*  traffic,  from  this  part  of  the  coast."* 

*  The  writer  doubts  not  that  these  hopes  would  have  been  realized,  had  it 
pleased  Providence  to  prolong,  but  for  a  few  years,  the  life  of  Mr.  Ashmun. 
From  the  opinion  expressed  by  Mr.  Ashmun,  in  a  former  chapter,  it  is  evi- 
'  dent  that  his  hopes  of  the  utter  extinction  of  the  trade,  had  been  disappointed. 
On  the  20lh  of  April,  he  wrote  :  "Since  the  10th  of  October  last,  God  has  hon- 
oured me  and  the  forces  of  the  Colony,  as  the  instruments  of  liberation  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-tight  Africans,  who  have  been  received  at  the  U.  States* 
Agency.  In  the  same  letter,  he  suggests  to  the  Board  the  propriety  of  putting 
in  a  claim  for  "the  bounty  allowed  by  law  for  recaptured  and  liberated  slaves, 
delivered  over  into  the  custody  of  the  Marshalls  or  Agents  of  the  U.  States, 
authorized  to  receive  them."  "It  will  have,"  he  adds,  "at  least  the  effect  of 
a  recognition  on  the  part  of  the  Government  of  the  freedom  of  the  people — 
and  the  whole  amount  will  go  more  or  less  to  the  advancement  of  the  Co- 
lony." 


318  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

It  is,  perhaps,  worthy  of  remark,  as  an  evidence  of  the 
facility  with  which  Mr.  Ashmim  turned  his  thoughts  from 
one  object  to  another,  that  his  able  letter,  addressed  to  Dr. 
Blumhardt,  on  the  subject  of  Missions,  (see  Appendix  N<x  3,) 
is  dated  April  23d,  1826,  a  few  days  only  after  his  return  from 
Trade  Town. 

From  May  to  October,  Mr.  Ashmim  was  confined  to  his 
room,  in  consequence  of  the  effects  of  an  injury,  which  he  re- 
ceived in  landing  at  Trade  Town.  On  the  10th  of  May,  he 
wrote — "The  contusion  was  a  little  troublesome  at  first,  but 
1 1  soon,  as  was  supposed,  got  the  better  of  it,  and  felt  little  in- 

<  convenience  until  the  2d  of  May,  when  it  took  on  every  cha- 
1  racter  of  an  ulcerous  affection,  and  made  it  necessary  to 
1  submit  to  a  course  of  medical  treatment,  which  I  fear  must 
'  be  continued  for  weeks.     But  my  confinement  to  my  office 
c  is  little  or  no  impediment  to  the  business  I  have  to  do;  and 
1  I  have  the  satisfaction  to  add,  that  the  public  work,  in  all  its 

<  parts,  never  went  forward  more  regularly,  or  more  success- 

<  fully." 

It  would  be  difficult,  without  extending  our  work  beyond 
the  limits  prescribed,  for  it,  even  briefly,  to  allude  to  the  great 
variety  of  objects  to  which  the  thoughts  of  Mr.  Ashmun  were 
directed,  during  this  period  of  confinement,  and  upon  which 
many  valuable  observations  are  introduced  into  his  Journal 
and  communications  to  the  Board.  But  he  rested  not  in 
speculations — he  sought  to  carry  into  speedy  effect,  what- 
ever plan  he  adopted. 

Dr.  Peaco  was  absent  from  the  Colony,  at  Sierra  Leone, 
from  the  21st  of  June,  to  the  last  of  July,  to  settle  certain 
claims  held  there,  against  the  United  States'  Agency  in  Li- 
beria. 

As  the  Government  of  Sierra  Leone  had  put  the  line  of 
coast  from  that  place,  to  the  Gallinas,  under  blockade  for  tho 
prevention  of  the  slave  trade,  and  as  complaints  had  been 
made  to  Mr.  Ashmun,  that  this  blockade  was  violated  with 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  319 

impunity  by  the  merchants  of  Freetown,  Dr.  Peaco  was  re- 
quested to  ascertain  to  what  extent  and  under  what  colour 
such  violations  had  been  permitted,  and  to  state  explicitly, 
"That  the  members  of  the  Colony  of  Liberia  would  be  re- 
quired to  submit  to  no  restraints  on  their  trade  with  the 
blockaded  coast,  which  were  not  actually  and  universally  en- 
forced upon  the  subjects  of  Sierra  Leone." 

The  exclusion  of  the  ordinary  commerce,  from  this  part 
of  the  coast,  induced  the  Chiefs  of  Cape  Mount  to  open  a 
regular  trade  with  the  Colony,  and  the  supply  of.  rice  and 
other  African  provisions  in  the  colonial  settlement,  became 
unusually  cheap  and  abundant. 

During  the  absence  of  Dr.  Peaco,  Mr.  Ashmun  adopted 
several  important  measures  for  improving  the  condition  and 
extending  the  influence  and  Territory  of  the  Colony.  To 
encourage  agriculture,  he  gran  ted  leases  of  the  public  grounds 
in  the  vicinity  of  Monro\^,  for  three  years,  rent  free,  on  con- 
dition that  the  lessees  should  proceed  immediately  to  clear, 
enclose,  and  improve  them. 

He  imposed  a  tax  of  two  dollars  a  head  on  all  landholders, 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  funds  for  the  construction  of  a  town 
school-house,  although  the  act  occasioned  expressions  of  the 
wildest  and  absurdest  notions  on  the  subject  of  taxation  and 
republican  liberty.  "The  measure,"  he  observes,  '-'was  una- 
<  voidable." 

In  July,  the  hope  cherished  by  Mr.  Ashmun,  that  the  de- 
struction of  Trade  Town  would  put  an  end  to  the  slave 
trade  in  that  vicinity,  was  for  a  short  season  suspended  by  an 
active  combination  between  several  piratical  vessels  and  na- 
tive Chiefs,  to  restore  this  town  to  its  former  nefarious  dis- 
tinction. 

The  brig  John,  Captain  Clough,  from  Portland,  and  the 
schooner  Bona,  from  Baltimore,  were  plundered  on  the  27th 
of  July,  when  lying  at  anchor  off  the  town  of  Monrovia,  by 
a  piratical  brig,  mounting  twelve  guns,  and  manned  chiefly 


320  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN, 

by  Spaniards — the  former,  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  dol- 
lars, and  the  latter,  of  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty- 
two.* 

Intelligence  reached  the  Colony,  nearly  at  the  same  time, 
that  eight  vessels  engaged  in  the  slave  trade,  had  resolved  to 
maintain  Trade  Town  as  a  station  for  their  traffic:  that  they 
had  commenced  a  battery  on  shore,  and  were  determined  to 
defend  themselves  against  any  force  which  might  be  brought 
against  them.  "The  slave  trade,"  he  observes,  "is  the  pretext 
1  under  which  expensive  armaments  are  fitted  out  every 
1  week  from  Havannah,  and  desperadoes  enlisted  for  enter- 
'•  prises  to  this  country;  in  which,  on  their  arrival,  the  trade 
'  is  either  forgotten  entirely,  or  attended  to  as  a  mere  secon- 
1  dary  object,  well  suited  to  conceal  from  cruisers  they  may 
{  fall  in  with,  their  real  object.  Scarcely  an  American  trad- 
'  ing  vessel  has  for  the  last  twelve  months  been  on  this  coast, 
'  as  low  as  six  deg.  north,  without  suffering  either  insult  or 
i  plunder,  from  these  Spaniards." 

In  this  state  of  things,  Mr.  Ashmun  directed  that  a  strong 
battery  should  be  immediately  erected  near  the  termination 

*  Owing  to  the  little  resistance  made  by  the  Americans,  or  violence  offered 
by  the  pirates,  the  robbery  was  not  perceived  from  the  town.  The  cabins  of 
both  vessels  were  entirely  stripped  of  their  little  furniture — and  officers  and 
crew  robbed  of  all  their  clothing  and  private  property.  This  brig  was  said 
to  have  been  fitted  out  at  St.  Thomas',  and  to  be  commanded  by  an  American. 
Mr.  Ashmun  stated,  that  after  this  piracy,  she  proceeded  to  Gallinas,  purchas- 
ed and  sailed  from  the  coast  with  six  hundred  slaves.  The  Journal  of  Mr. 
Ashmun  about  this  time,  contains  an  affecting  account  of  the  murder  of  Capt. 
Ferbin,  (a  former  visiter  to  the  Colony)  and  his  crew  at  St.  Andrews'  bay. — 
"Captain  Ferbin  had  unfortunately,  on  a  former  voyage,  given  to  a  French- 
man, information  which  led  to  the  seizure  and  transportation  out  of  the  coun- 
try, of  several  of  the  St.  Andrews'  people,  and  the  nation  determined  to  have 
its  revenge,  and  Capt.  Ferbin  had  been  repeatedly  warned  not  to  put  himself  in 
its  power.  The  Captain  was  ill  when  his  vessel  was  attacked,  and  though  his 
crew  defended  themselves  with  all  their  might,  they  were  soon  overpowered, 
the  Captain  himself  taken  on  shore  and  shockingly  murdered,  while  not  one  of 
his  men  was  left  to  tell  the  horrors  of  the  scene.  The  St.  Andrews'  people  are 
among  the  most  treacherous  and  cruel  of  the  whole  coast." 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  321 

of  the  Cape,  for  the  protection  of  ships  at  anchor  in  the  road- 
stead,* while  he  represented  to  the  Hon.  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  the  absolute  necessity  of  the  presence  of  a  sloop  of  war 
for  the  defence  of  American  commerce  on  that  coast. 

*  The  Friends  of  Peace  deserve  great  praise  for  their  efforts  to  abolish,  ut- 
terly, the  odious  custom  of  war.  Whether  war  in  any  case  is  justifiable,  is 
questioned  by  some  eminently  enlightened  and  Christian  men.  We  have 
never  seen  the  arguments  for  and  against  defensive  war,  so  clearly  and  briefly 
stated,  as  in  the  following  extract  from  an  Address  by  the  Rev.  C.  S.  Henry, 
of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  a  gentleman  whose  writings  do  honour  alike  to  his 
scholarship,  piety,  and  genius  : 

"On  the  one  hand,  it  is  common  to  observe,  that  taking  life  is  not  in  itself 
absolutely  wrong;— that  the  man  may  kill  his  aggressor  without  hatred  or  re- 
venge, but  with  sorrow  and  regret; — that  the  preservation  of  life  is,  within  cer- 
tain limits,  a  clear  duty; — and,  moreover,  that  the  instinct  of  self-preservation, 
though  not  an  absolute  moral  guide,  since  duty  may  sometimes  require  us  to- 
risk  and  to  sacrifice  our  lives, — is  yet  in  favor  of  the  right  of  self-defence,  and- 
therefore  must  modify  those  passages  of  the  New  Testament  from  which  the 
duty  of  non-resistance  is  deduced; — and  finally,  that  to  construe  those  passa- 
ges with  literal  strictness  would  not  only  forbid  the  taking  of  life  in  the  case 
supposed,  but  would  prohibit  any  resistance,  such  as  the  attempt  to  overpower" 
and  disarm  the  assassin. 

"On  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally  obvious  to  remark,  that  duty,  whatever  it 
be,  is  worth  more  than  life.  It  is  better  for  the  man  to  do  his  duty,  than  to 
save  his  life.  If  the  precepts  and  the  spirit  of  Christianity  forbid  the  taking 
of  life  in  self-defence, — then  neither  the  fact  that  they  run  counter  to  the  in- 
stinctive love  of  life,  nor  any  regard  to  the  consequences  of  obedience,  are  to- 
outweigh  them.  Whatever  is  our  duty  is  on  the  whole  best  for  us.  Obedi- 
ence is  wisest  and  safest,  in  the  large  view  of  our  welfare.  On  our  part  will 
then  remain  only  an  implicit  reliance  on  Providence  for  protection,  in  all  ca- 
ses where  we  should  do  wrong  in  defending  ourselves.  And  if  life  be  the 
sacrifice  to  duty,  it  is  well  sacrificed,  no  less  in  this  case,  than  in  the  nume- 
rous other  supposable  cases.  That  Christianity  does  require  the  sacrifice  in 
the  case  supposed,  is  argued  from  the  fact,  that  the  peaceful  precepts  of  the 
New  Testament,  are  directed  precisely  against  the  principle  of  self-defence. 
-They  do  not  merely  forbid  aggression,  but  resistance.  It  is  precisely  when  we 
are  assailed  by  violence  or  injury,  that  these  precepts  come  in,  commanding 
endurance,  forbearance,  peace.  These  precepts  are  universal  in  their  form, 
making  no  exception  in  favor  of  cases  where  life  is  assailed.  Add  to  this,  the 
unquestionable  fact,  that  those  precepts  were  thus  understood  in  the  earliest 
times  of  Christianity, — that  the  Gospel  was,  in  the  first  ages,  universally  and 
practically  construed  as  a  doctrine  of  non  resistance.  To  test  this  construc- 

41 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

His  influence  and  authority  with  the  native  chiefs,  -how- 
ever, contributed  more  than  any  other  means  to  prevent  the 
destruction  of  the  Colonial  factories  and  the  threatened  sub- 
version of  the  Colony. 

In  his  letter  to  the  Board  of  the  3d  of  August,  he  writes  :— 

"I  have  judged  it  advisable  to  send  for  preservation  in  the 
*  Society's  office,  rough,  but  accurate  plans  of  the  surveys  from 
1  time  to  time  accomplished, — of  the  public  buildings,  &c. — 
(  the  former  taken  from  the  authentic  records  of  the  Colony. 
'  Accompanying,  I  send 

"I.  A  complete  survey  of  the  St.  Paul's — Caldwell  settle  - 
1  ment — with  the  surrounding  country. 

"II.  A  survey  of  the  Stockton,  including  the  Half-way 
1  farms,  and  showing  the  position  of  these  farms  relatively 
<  to  Caldwell. 

"III.  The  town  and  settlement  of  Monrovia — completed 
'  from  the  last  surveys. 

"IV.  Front  side-view  of  the  market-house  of  Monrovia — 
1  building. 

"V.  End  and  side-views  of  the  Lancasterian  school  and 
c  town  house  of  Monrovia;  now  nearly  completed. 

"I  also  send  the  final  receipt  and  discharge  of  the  St.  Paul's 
'  kings,  for  the  purchase  money  of  the  territory  on  that  river. 

tion,  it  may  be  said,  it  is  supposable,  that  the  true  Christian  spirit— the  spirit 
of  forbearance  and  love,  if  in  its  highest  and  purest  exercise,  might  prompt 
the  individual,  in  the  case  given,  to  sacrifice  his  life  rather  than  destroy  the 
assassin; — and  that  we  should  pronounce  it  a  noble  disposition.  And  the 
question  would  then  come  up,  whether  the  highest  and  purest  exercise  of 
Christian  love,  is  not  the  duty  of  all; — whether  all  ought  not  to  be  actuated  by 
a  disposition,  which  we  cannot  but  pronounce  admirable  ?  " 

One  idea  of  some  importance,  seems  to  the  writer,  to  have  been  omitted  by 
Mr.  Henry,  viz.— that  in  case  the  question  be  not  decided  expressly  by  the 
language  of  the  New  Testament,  the  right  of  self-defence  may  be  exercised 
not  from  any  excessive  self-love,  but  from  regard  to  the  general  good.  Even 
the  Christian  might  say,  in  destroying  the  life  of  an  assassin,  if  my  enemy  and 
myself,  were  the  only  human  beings  on  earth,  I  might  yield  up  without  resist- 
ance, my  own  life;  but  as  things  are,  I  am  bound  to  consider  the  effect  of 
such  an  act  on  the  general  interests  of  society 


LIFE    OF    ASHJMUN. 

"The  purchase  of  Factory  Island^  was  definitely  concluded 
(  early  in  July. 

"The  boats  sent  out  by  the  Government,  promise  to  be  of 

*  inestimable  utility  to  the  Colony.     Our  establishment  at  the 

<  Sesters,  although  within  five  miles  of  Trade  Town,  is  still 

*  sustained — cultivation,  building  and  trade,  are  carrying  on 

<  there  on  a  small  scale;  but  for  want  of  rainy-seasori-craft, 

<  little  has  been  done  to  advance  it  since  the  month  of  May. 
c  Bassa  factory  is  a  source  of  very  valuable  supplies  to  the 
1  Colony.    We  keep  up  at  this  inclement  season,  an  inter- 

<  course  with  this  place  along  the  beach — but  the  transporta- 
i  tion  of  goods  or  produce  by  this  route  is  expensive  and  labo- 

<  rious — and  there  is  a  considerable  amount  of  property  re- 

*  maining  there,  which  we  leave  to  the  dry  season. 

"I  cannot  well  express  to  the  Board,  the  general  gratifica- 
4  tion  felt  here  in  the  establishment,  at  length,  of  a  line  of 
4  packets  between  the  U.  States  and  this  Colony,  on  which  it 

*  is  believed  dependence  can  be  safely  placed.    The  entire 

*  cargo  of  the  brig  John,  (the  first  of  the  line)  which  arrived 
i  July  22d  from  Portland,  the   9th  of  April,  was  instantly 

<  purchased,  and  another  vessel  is  expected  early  in  October.* 

"The  Board  will  recollect  the  mention  of  the  arrangement 
«  with  Mr.  C.,  merchant  of  Portland,  in  a  former  letter,  by 
£  which  he  engaged  to  place  two  or  more  brigs  on  this  line,  in 

<  order  that  four  arrivals  may  be  depended  upon  in  the  year. 

*  I  stated  to  him  (Mr.  C.)  explicitly,  that  he  must  engross  the 
'  trade  of  the  Colony  only  by  means  of  a  fair  competition,  and 

<  this  he  might  do  for  the  present,  by 

"1st.  Making  the  supplies  certain. 

"2d.  Laying  in  all  such  goods  and  stores,  and  such  only,  as 
£  should  be  ordered. 
"3d.  Always  bringing  a  deck-load  of  lumber. 

*  This  arrangement  continued  but  for  a  short  time,— the  success  of  the 
owner  of  the  vessels  not  equalling  his  expectations. 


324  LIFE    OF    ASI1MUN. 

"4th.  Holding  his  merchandise,  &c.  at  the  following  prices: 
"Tobacco,  100  per  cent,  on  the  American  Invoice. 

"Rum,  75     do.  do. 

"Salted  provisions,  45     do.  do. 

"Flour,  75     do.  do. 

"Butter,  Lard,          75     do.  do. 

"Lumber,  100    do.  and  all  other  goods  and  mer- 

•*  chandise,  at  50  per  cent. 

"The  experiment  has  completely  justified  the  anticipation 

*  on  which  it  was  founded.     Our  port  regulations  prohibit- 
'  ing  on  penalty  of  the  forfeiture  of  the  amount,  any  goods 

*  introduced  into  the  Colony,  from  being  sold  on  credit — when 
1  I  say  that  the  cargo  of  the  John  has  been  wholly  disposed 
•*  of  in  ten  days,  the  Board  will  understand  me  to  say  that  it 

*  has  all  been  also  paid  for.     The  amount,  after  deducting 
c  the  part  carried  off  by  the  pirates  on  the  28th.  is  about  eleven 
c  thousand  dollars.  * 

"The  Board  is  respectfully  solicited  to  direct  their  early 

*  attention  to  the  deplorable  want  of  Schools  under  which  the 

*  Colony  now  labours.     All  our  former  arrangements  are  con- 

*  founded,  and  our  hopes  blasted  on  this  interesting  subject, 

*  by  the  lamented  death  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Holton.     A  gentle- 

*  man  from  the  southern  part  of  the  country,  especially  the 
4  alluvial  country  of  the  southern  states,  need  be  under  no  ap- 

*  prehension  of  suffering  severely  or  permanently  in  his  health 

<  in  consequence  of  removing  to  Africa.     A  female  of  supe- 

<  rior  accomplishments  for  training  our  numerous  girls  and 
1  young  women,  is  scarcely  less  needed  than  the  first.     And 
1  as  our  hopes  have  been  so  highly  excited  by  the  provision 
1  made  for  carrying  on  the  printing  establishment,  a  severe 
'  mortification  and  several  sore  inconveniences  must  be  the 
4  consequence  of  a  disappointment  in  regard  to  it.     The  pa- 

*  tronage  that  will  be  afforded  to  a  paper  by  the  settlers,  will 
'  (Diminish  the  burthen  of  supporting  a  printer." 

On  the  18th  of  August,  Dr.  Peaco,  whose  health  was  much 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  Vv£*,d          ^^ 

reduced  by  repeated  attacks  of  fever,  embarked  in  the  brig 
John  for  the  United  States,  expecting  an  early  recovery  in 
his  native  land,  and  prepared  to  explain  and  enforce  at  the 
Navy  Department,  the  statements  of  Mr.  Ashmun  in  regard 
to  the  exposed  condition  of  American  vessels  on  the  coast  of 
Africa.  At  the  moment  of  his  departure,  Mr.  Hodges,  a  boat 
builder,  from  Norfolk,  and  the  only  white  man  remaining 
with  Mr.  Ashmun  at  the  Colony,  was  leaving  the  world. — 
"He  sustained,"  says  Mr.  Ashmun,  "a  blameless  character, 
1  the  crowning  excellence  of  which  was  a  deep,  humbling, 
1  practical  and  inward  piety,  which  the  living  may  remember 
£  with  advantage  to  themselves  and  which  must  excite  sin- 
t  cere  and  lasting  regret  for  the  departed." 

The  next  day,  he  entered  the  following  sentence  upon  his 
Journal:  "It  is  a  most  remarkable  and  affecting  circum- 
i  stance,  that  the  present  Colonial  Agent  is  this  morning,  by 

<  the  death  and  departure  of  his  associates  and  assistants, 
'  left  for  the  seventh  time,  the  only  white  person  in  the  Co- 

<  lony."* 

The  firmness  of  Mr.  Ashmun  was  exhibited  during  this 
year,  at  the  annual  election  of  public  officers.  A  few  indi- 
viduals belonging  to  the  Independent  Volunteer  company, 
(composed,  said  Mr.  Ashmun,  of  high  spirited  young  men, 
all  excellent  soldiers,  but  bad  politicians,)  took  offence 
at  certain  restrictive  regulations,  and  particularly  at  the  sum- 
mary method,  which  on  the  failure  of  all  others,  had  been 

*  1st.   September  16th,  1822:  by  the  death  of  his  wife. 

2d.  October  1822:  by  the  death  of  Jones,  an  assistant  Surgeon. f 

3d.  February  1323:  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Gordon  and  eight  of  his  crew  and 
the  withdrawing  of  the  three  survivers. 

4th.  December  6th,  1823:  by  return  to  the  United  States  of  Dr.  Ayres. 

5th.  August  1824:  by  return  of  Mr.  Gurley. 

6th.  May  1825:  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Dicksley,  a  young  Englishman  employ- 
ed as  an  Assistant. 

7th.  August  19th,  1826:  by  the  deaths  of  Messrs.  Force,  Holton  and  Hod- 
ges, and  the  return  of  Dr.  Peaco. 


326  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

adopted  to  raise  money  for  most  necessary  improvements  in 
the  town.  By  zeal  and  activity,  they  soon  formed  a  party, 
went  forward  in  a  body  to  the  polls,  and  while  the  more  sober 
part  of  the  community  were  little  aware  of  any  political  dan- 
ger, elected  their  own  candidate  for  the  Vice- Agency.  The 
Colonial  Agent  refused  to  confirm  the  chosen  candidate  in 
office,  and  stated  his  reasons,  which  were  entirely  of  a  politi- 
cal nature. 

In  the  afternoon,  a  circular  was  issued  to  this  effect:  "That 
the  right  of  election  conferred  by  the  Board  of  Managers  on 
the  people  of  the  Colony,  as  it  never  had  been,  so  it  never 
should  be  interfered  with  by  the  Agent;  consequently  ap- 
pointments to  offices  of  trust  in  the  Colony,  once  legally 
made  by  the  concurrence  of  the  popular  choice,  with  his  own 
approbation,  should  never  be  rescinded  by  any  arbitrary  act 
on  his  part;  and  that  the  actual  incumbents  must  remain  in 
their  offices  till  removed  in  the  only  way  prescribed  by  the 
provisions  of  Government;  that  is,  by  a  vote  of  a  majority 
of  the  electors  of  the  Colony." 

The  disappointed,  perceiving  that  the  present  officers 
would,  without  a  new  election,  be  continued,  hastened  to  the 
polls,  and  gave  their,  votes  for  a  ticket  the  most  unsuitable, 
that  could  well  be  proposed,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Agent. — 
On  that  day  they  were  a  large  majority.  But  as  the  voters 
from  Caldwell  had  mostly  retired  to  their  homes  at  the  close 
of  the  first  election,  it  was  necessary  to  keep  open  the  polls 
during  the  next  day,  when  tke  body  of  the  settlers  alarmed 
at  the  probable  consequences  of  their  remissness,  rallied  with 
zeal  and  perfect  union,  and  elected  new  candidates  well  quali- 
fied for  the  offices  assigned  them,  and  whose  appointment 
was  immediately  confirmed  by  the  Colonial  Agent.  "The 
Agent,"  remarks  Mr.  Ashmun,  "has  the  high  satisfaction  of 
<  finding  himself  sustained  by  a  body  of  assistants,  in  whose 
c  good  dispositions  and  capacity  he  has  great  confidence." 

On  the  3d  of  September,  an  extraordinary  panic  seized 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  327 

many  of  the  settlers,  and  we  here  insert,  somewhat  abbrevi- 
ated, the  notice  taken  of  it  in  the  Colonial  Journal : 

"There  is  an  unaccountable  propensity  in  human  nature 
1  to  fabricate,  diffuse,  and  at  length  believe  whatever  can  ex- 
'  cite  anxiety  or  apprehension,  however  unfounded  and  im- 
'  possible.  It  is  only  by  referring  to  this  principle,  that  the 
1  Agent  can  explain  the  agitation  which  possesses  the  mind 
c  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  recent  emigrants,  some  of  whom 
t  have  abandoned  their  houses,  carrying  with  them  their 
c  goods,  they  know  not  whither.  Ask  them  the  cause  and 
1  not  one  of  them  can  make  any  answer.  It  is  only  seen 
'  that  their  imaginations  are  so  possessed  with  the  idea  of 
c  war  and  midnight  attacks,  conflagration,  butchery  and  de- 
1  struction,  as  to  exclude  all  sober  reflection,  and  wholly  to 
£  take  from  them  the  power  of  judging  rationally  of  their  situa- 
'  tion.  Never  were  the  native  tribes  more  friendly.  Never  were 
c  they  so  little  capable  of  bringing  war  upon  our  settlements 

*  or  causing  any  disturbance.     A  rupture  with  the  Colony 
6  would  cut  them  off  from  supplies  which  they  regard  as 
'  among  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  they  dread  it  as  the  great- 
1  est  of  calamities.     They  are  ready  to  explain  any  circum- 
<  stance  in  their  intercourse  with  us  which  may  be  construed 
i  to  their  disadvantage.     By  steadily  resisting .  the  importu- 

*  nities  of  these  frightened  individuals,  for  arms  and  ammuni- 
c  tion,  and  other  means  of  defence,  the  A^ent  in  a  few  days 
'  succeeded  in  laying  them  under  the  necessity  of  imagining 
'  themselves  secure  again,  and  it  is  the  imagination  alone  that 
1  can  be  addressed  in  so  high  a  fever  of  excitement  as  has 
1  prevailed  among  this  people." 

With  what  promptitude  and  decision  Mr.  Ashmun  defend- 
ed not  the  rights  of  the  Colonists  only,  but  those  of  the  native 
tribes  who  were  entitled  to  his  protection,  is  manifest  from  the 
following  record  in  the  Colonial  Journal : 

"On  the  5th  of  September,  a  flagrant  robbery  was  commit- 
'  ted  by  the  people  of  Little  Bassa,  upon  a  company  of  Young 


328  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

f  Sesters  people,  on  their  way  from  the  Lower  Factory  to  the 
'  Cape,  with  rice,  oil,  stock  and  ivory.     A  messenger  was 

<  despatched  to  Little  Bassa  at  an  early  day  thereafter,  to  de- 
1  mand  redress  for  the  insult  and  violence  offered  to  these  tra- 
1  ders.     Those  who  committed  the  outrage  lived  at  some  dis- 
'  tance  inland,  and  were  under  the  jurisdiction  of  King  Tom, 
'  now  at  war  with  the  Condoes,  whose  frequent  incursions 
1  upon  his  territories  near  the  sea  coast,   have  for  several 

*  months  kept  a  part  of  his  people  in  constant  alarm  and  dis- 

*  order.     Many  of  them  are  under  arms,  and  the  bands  of 
4  Government  very  much  relaxed.    The  Sesters'  traders  were 

*  plundered  of  about  half  of  their  property  by  a  straggling 
1  company  of  these  warriors.     King  Tom  at  once  acknow- 
'  ledged  the  justice  of  our  claims  and  engaged  to  make  full 

*  and  immediate  restitution." 

In  the  Colonial  Journal  for  October,  after  enumerating 
many  public  works  then  in  progress,  he  observes :     "The 

<  Agent  was  closely  confined  to  his  chamber,  and  a  great  part 
t  of  the  whole  time  to  his  bed  until  the  first  week  in  October, 

*  when  he  ventured  cautiously  abroad,   in  order  to  superin- 
'  tend  the  launch  of  the  small  schooner.     It  has  been  built  on 
1  the  summit  of  the  hill,  three  hundred  yards  distant  from 
1  the  river,  and  on  an  elevation  of  about  ninety  feet  from  its 
1  level.     The  launch  was  accomplished  without  accident,  and 
1  occurring  on  the  anniversary  of  the  Agent's  marriage  eight 
'  years  before,  he  gave  the  little  vessel  the  name  of  his  depart- 
'  ed  wife,  whose  ashes  rest  at  no  great  distance  from  the 
'  place,  and  have  hitherto  remained  without  any  visible  me- 
1  morial.     Her  rigging  was  set  up  by  a  French  rigger,  whom 
'  accident  had  thrown  into  the  Colony  at  the  time  when  his 
1  services  were  much  needed.     She  carries  a  brass  six  poun- 
c  der,  pivot  mounted,  twelve  stands  of  muskets,  twenty-four 
'  boarding  pistols,  twelve  cutlasses,  and  a  plentiful  supply  of 
1  ammunition.    A  crew  of  ten  men  have  been  shipped  and 
'  organized  in  the  best  manner  the  Colony  will  admit  of,  and 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  329 

c  her  first  trip  was  made  to  Cape  Mount  to  convey  two  com- 
'  missioners  sent  to  treat  with  the  country  authorities,  for  cer- 
1  tain  rights  and  privileges  which  a  part  of  the  chiefs  had  al- 
'  ready  taken  upon  them  to  engage  to  the  Agent  for  a  small 
1  compensation." 

The  intelligent  natives  near  Cape  Mount  and  the  river 
Gallinas,  had  expressed  a  desire  to  open  an  advantageous 
trade  with  the  Colony;  and  in  November  and  December, 
Mr.  Ashmun  visited  them  in  the  schooner  Catherine,  and 
acquired  much  information  concerning  their  country,  char- 
acter and  religion.  He  found  them  distinguished  from  their 
southern  neighbours  by  superior  intellectual  endowments, 
urbanity  of  manners,  profound  dissimulation;  by  their  profes- 
sion of  the  Mohammedan  faith;*  by  their  sobriety,  persever- 
ance, activity  and  avarice;  by  their  extreme  jealousy  of  the 
interference  of  strangers  either  in  their  trade,  their  territo- 
rial jurisdiction  or  their -civil  affairs.  Negotiations  were 
commenced  for  obtaining  territory  in  the  vicinity  of  Cape 
Mount,  and  a  brief  report  comprising  valuable  facts  and  re- 
flections, transmitted  to  the  Board.f 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1826,  the  Colony  was  blest  with 

*  The  Fey  or  Vey  nation  inhabit  this  region.  Their  country,  says  Mr. 
Ashmun,  limits  the  progress  of  Mohammedan  proselytism  towards  the  south" 
east.  Few  or  none  of  the  Deys,  and  none  to  the  leeward,  either  profess  this 
faith  or  entertain  its  teachers.  It  is  a  singular  circumstance,  that  our  Colony 
occupies  the  point  of  separation  between  Mohammedan  and  Pagan  Africa,  on> 
the  western  coast. 

f  Between  the  1st  of  January  and  the  15th  of  July,  1826,  no  less  than  fifteen 
vessels  touched  at  Monrovia,  and  purchased  the  produce  of  the  country,  to 
the  amoust,  according  to  the  best  probable  estimate,  of  forty-three  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  thirty  dollars,  African  value.  The  exporters  of  this  pro- 
duce, realized  on  the  sale  of  the  goods,  given  in  barter  for  it,  a  profit  of  twen- 
ty-one thousand  nine  hundred  and  ninety  dollars,  and  on  the  freight,  of  eight 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-six  dollars,  making  a  total  profit  of  thirty- 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-six  dollars.  A  merchant  of  New  Eng^ 
land,  who  landed  his  cargo  in  Liberia,  to  the  value  of  eight  thousand  dollars, 
received  payment  therefor,  in  the  course  of  ten  days. 


330  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

health j  peace  and  prosperity.  Much  progress  had  been 
made  during  the  year,  in  the  construction  of  public  buildings 
and  works  of  defence.  Two  handsome  churches  adorned 
the  village  of  Monrovia.  Fort  Stockton  had  been  rebuilt, 
and  a  powerful  battery  far  advanced  towards  completion,  on 
the  extremity  of  the  Cape.  A  large  building  capable  of  ac- 
commodating one  hundred  and  fifty  emigrants,  had  been 
finished.  The  new  Agency  house,  Market-house,  Lancaste- 
rian  school  house,  and  Town  house  in  Monrovia,  were  far  ad- 
vanced, and  the  last  strokes  about  to  be  given  to  the  Govern- 
ment house  at  Caldvvell.  "There  are,",  said  Mr.  Ashmun  on 
the  6th  of  December,  "more  than  twelve  public  buildings, 
including  three  new  fortifications,  going  forward, — of  which 
a  particular  account  may  be  expected  by  the  next  opportuni- 
ty of  writing  the  Board."  A  room  had  been  set  apart  in  the 
wing  of  the  old  Agency  house,  for  the  Colonial  Library,  con- 
sisting of  one  thousand  two  hundred  volumes,  covered  accu- 
rately, labelled,  and  systematically  arranged  in  glazed  cases 
with  appropriate  hangings.  Files  of  American  newspapers 
were  here  also  preserved,  and  it  was  intended  to  render  this 
apartment,  both  a  reading  room  and  a  museum,  for  African 
curiosities. 

The  commerce  of  the  Colony  had  increased  with  almost 
unexampled  rapidity.  New  settlements  had  been  founded 
on  a  soil  inviting  cultivation,  from  the  hand  of  industry,  and 
promising  to  labour  an  ample  reward. 

FIVE  of  .the  most  important  STATIONS  on  the  line  of  coast 
from  Cape  Mount  to  Trade  Town,  (one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles)  had  been  acquired  either  by  actual  purchase  or  by 
deeds  of  a  perpetual  lease,  and  negotiations  concluded,  by 
which  all  Europeans  were  excluded  from  any  possessions 
within  these  limits. 

The  territory  on  the  St.  Paul's  has  been  already  described. 

The  tract  granted  to  the  Society  at  the  Young  Sesters 
river,  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  productive  rice  country, 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  331 

abounding  in  palm  oil,  camwood  and  ivory,  includes  all  the 
land  on  each  side,  to  the  distance  of  half  a  league,  and  ex- 
tending longitudinally  from  the  river's  mouth  to  its  source. 

On  the  south  side  of  St.  John's  river,  north,  nine  miles  from 
Young  Sesters,  the  right  of  use  and  occupancy  had  been  ob- 
tained of  a  region  of  country,  a  Factory  established  upon  it, 
and  arrangements  made  for  the  cultivation  of  rice,  the  chief 
of  the  country  agreeing  to  furnish  the  labour. 

Deeply  impressed  by  the  upright  conduct  of  the  superin- 
tendent appointed  by  Mr.  Ashmun  to  this  station,  with  the 
superiority  of  civilized  and  Christian  men,  and  the  importance 
of  their  settlement  in  the  country,  an  offer  made  by  the  Colo- 
nial Agent  for  the  purchase  of  Factory  Island,  (in  the  river 
St.  John's,  four  miles  from  its  mouth,  from  five  to  six  in 
length,  and  one-third  of  a  mile  in  breadth,  and  among  the 
most  beautiful  spots  in  Africa,)  was  accepted  by  its  proprie- 
tor, and  preparations  immediately  made  to  found  thereon 
a  settlement,  "which  cannot  fail,"  remarks  Mr.  Ashmun, 
"«in  a  few  years  to  be  second  to  no  other  in  the  Colony,  ex- 
cept Monrovia." 

A  perpetual  grant,  rent  free,  had  been  secured  of  an  inde- 
finite tract  of  country,  lying  between  the  two  Junk  rivers, 
from  thirty  to  forty  miles  south  of  Cape  Montserado.  Mr. 
Ashmun  regarded  this  as  a  very  important  acquisition,  and 
believed  that  eventually  whole  districts  would  become,  on 
easy  terms,  the  property  of  the  Society. 

A  hope  was  expressed  by  the  Agent,  that  negotiations  al- 
ready undertaken,  might  soon  give  to  the  Colony  the  whole 
trade  with  Cape  Mount,  estimated  at  an  annual  value  of 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  ultimately  result  in  its  annexation 
to  the  territories  of  Liberia. 

The  following  sentences,  are  from  the  last  letters  addressed 
by  Mr.  Ashmun,  to  the  Board  in  1826 : 

"The  country  people  begin,  as  a  customary  thing,  to  hon- 
<  our  me  with  the  title  of  'Head-man  for  all  their  country/ 


332  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

{  and  'Father  of  we  all;'  and  whenever  a  proposition  is  sub- 
'  mitted  to  them,  they  are  in  the  habit  of  replying,  'you  know 
'  best  what  is  good  for  us;'  and  in  case  they  shall  ever  be 
1  straitened  in  consequence  of  yielding  to  my  requests,  they 

*  are  careful  to  let  rue  know  that  the  Colony  will  ultimately 
e  be  obliged  to  provide  them  with  the  means  of  subsisting 
'  themselves. 

"All  this  region  of  Africa  opens  its  bosom  for  the  reception 

*  of  her  returning  children.     I  rejoice  in  the  testimonials 
4  furnished  in  different  ways,   of  a  growing  and  enlightened 
'  interest  in  the  objects  of  your  Board,  among  the  American 

*  people.     It  is  one  of  those  great  and  benevolent  designs  on 
'  which  the  merciful  Father  of  all  mankind  loves  to  smile, 
1  which  the  American  Colonization  Society  has  undertaken. 

*  Its  root  is  deep,  and  its  growth,  however  gradual,  I  entirely 
1  believe,  will  be  sure.     But  the  greatest  difficulties — for  'diffi- 

<  culties  the  cause  has  always  struggled  with,  I  never  supposed 
1  to  lie  on  this  side  of  the  ocean.     To  obviate  prejudices,  and 
'  unite  the  exertions,  and  rouse  the  enterprise  of  the  whole 
(  American  people;  this  is  the  great  labour,  and  to  such  as  most 

<  successfully  engage  in,  and  prosecute  it,  will  be  chiefly  due 

<  the  acknowledgments  of  posterity," 


CHAPTER    XVI. 


Mr.  ASHMUN  had  now  entered  upon  the  last  entire  year  of 
his  labours.  Its  first  sun  beheld  him  in  his  wakefulness  of 
duty,  as  though  premonished  that  the  night  drew  near  in 
which  he  could  no  more  work.  Whatever  his  hand  found 
to  do,  he  did  with  his  might.  The  shorter  his  time,  the 
greater  was  his  activity.  The  fire  of  his  spirit  grew  more 
intense  as  he  approached  the  source  of  its  animation  and 
power. 

Reputation  had  become  the  attendant  of  his  virtues:  He 
enjoyed  the  affection  of  the  Colonists,  the  respect  of  the  na- 
tive* inhabitants  of  the  country,  and  the  unlimited  confidence 
of  the  friends  of  African  Colonization  in  America.  He  saw 
the  seeds  of  truth  which  he  had  planted  in  an  unkindly  soil, 
beginning  to  germinate;  nor  doubted  that  men  of  another 
age  would  gather  in  their  rich  and  abundant  fruits.  Divine- 
ly assisted,  he  had  laid,  immovably,  on  that  heathen  shore, 
the  foundations  of  a  Christian  empire;  but  he  knew  that  it 


334  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

rested  for  other  hands  to  build  it  sublimely  up — a  sanctuary 
inviting  the  oppressed  to  find  refuge  within  its  gates,  and 
kindle  their  hopes  from  the  inextinguishable  flame  upon  its 
altars. 

"One  thing  is  certain,"  observes  a  philosophical  and  elo- 
quent writer,*  "that  the  greatest  of  all  obstacles  to  the  improve- 
tnent  of  the  world,  is  that  prevailing  belief  of  its  improbabili- 
ty, which  damps  the  exertions  of  so  many  individuals;  and 
that  in  proportion  as  the  contrary  opinion  becomes  general, 
it  realizes  the  event  which  it  leads  us  to  anticipate.  Surely 
if  any  thing  can  have  a  tendency  to  call  forth  in  the  public 
service  the  exertions  of  individuals,  it  must  be  an  idea  of  the 
magnitude  of  that  work  in  which  they  are  conspiring,  and  a 
belief  of  the  permanence  of  those  benefits  which  they  confer 
on  mankind,  by  every  attempt  to  inform  and  enlighten  them. 
As  in  ancient  Rome,  therefore,  it  was  regarded  as  the  mark 
of  a  good  citizen,  never  to  despair  of  the  fortunes  of  the  re- 
public; so  the  good  citizen  of  the  world,  whatever  may  be 
the  political  aspect  of  his  own  times,  will  never  despair  of 
the  fortunes  of  the  human  race;  but  will  act  upon  the  convic- 
tion, that  prejudice,  slavery  and  corruption,  must  gradually 
give  way  to  truth,  liberty  and  virtue;  and  that  in  the  moral 
world,  as  well  as  in  the  material;  the  farther  our  observations 
extend,  and  the  longer  they  are  continued,  the  more  we  shall 
perceive  of  order  and  benevolent  design  in  the  universe." 

The  success  of  the  Colony  of  Liberia,  under  the  adminis- 
tration of  Mr.  Ashmun,  had  confirmed  a  large  body  of  reflect- 
ing and  benevolent  men  in  this  country,  in  the  opinion,  that 
the  scheme  of  African  Colonization  was  entirely  practicable, 
and  that  in  all  its  relations,  it  promised  vast  and  enduring 
good  to  mankind.  The  American  Colonization  Society  had 
enforced  its  principles,  extended  its  influence,  and  augmented 
its  resources.  Able  pens,  and  eloquent  voices,  and  strong 

*  Dugald  Stuart. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  335 

hands,  were  engaged  in  its  support.  The  pulpit  and  the 
press  had  become  its  advocates.  The  church  had  acknow- 
ledged its  claims  in  her  ecclesiastical  councils,  and  nearly  half 
the  States  in  their  legislative  capacity,  pronounced  its  object 
to  be  of  signal  interest  to, the  nation,  and  entitled  to  the  con- 
sideration and  aid  of  the  National  Government. 

The  cause  of  the  Society  had  grown  from  weakness  to 
strength,  and  probabilities  existed,  that  it  might  soon  be 
planted  in  the  affections  and  made  prosperous  and  triumphant 
by  a  "happy  conjunction,  with  the  great  consent  of  hearts" 
of  the  whole  American  people.  Auspicious  omens  cheered 
the  eyes  of  the  Managers,  and  they  were  excited  to  enlarge 
their  plans,  and  increase  their  means  and  energy  of  action. 

The  repeated  acts  of  piracy  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Colony, 
and  the  necessities  of  the  U.  States'  Agency  within  its  limits, 
induced  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  despatch  to  that  place, 
the  United  States'  schooner  Shark,  under  the  command  of 
Lieutenant  Norris,  with  a  supply  of  arms  and  ammunition; 
and  this  vessel  arrived  at  Monrovia  on  the  12th  of  January. 
The  presence  and  services  of  Lieutenant  Norris,  contributed 
to  aid  the  influence  of  the  Colonial  Government  for  the  sup- 
pression of  the  slave  trade,  and  to  strengthen  sentiments  of 
good  will  towards  the  settlement  among  the  neighbouring 
tribes.  "I  have  visited,"  observes  Mr.  Ashmun,  "our  leeward 
'  establishments  twice  on  board  of  this  vessel,  and  been  ena- 
'  bled  to  advance  our  interests,  and  extend  our  influence  ma- 
'  terially,  by  her  means,  in  that  direction."  Lieutenant  Nor- 
ris reported  on  his  return,  that  from  all  he  could  learn,  while 
on  the  coast,  the  slave  trade  was  nearly  extinct  between  Cape 
Mount  and  Trade  Town,  and  that  the  Colony  was  in  a 
flourishing  condition. 

On  the  llth  of  April,  arrived  at  the  Colony,  (after  a  passage 
of  forty-five  days)  the  brig  Doris,  Captain  Mathews,  with 
ninety-three  emigrants,  most  of  them  from  North  Carolina. 
These  people  suffered  but  slightly  from  the  effects  of  the 


336 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 


climate,  and  at  an  early  day,  took  up  their  residence  at  Cald- 
well,  on  the  St.  Paul's.* 

The  ship  Norfolk  sailed  from  Savannah  on  the  10th  of  Ju- 
ly, with  one  hundred  and  forty-two  recaptured  Africans,  and 
arrived  at  Liberia  on  the  27th  of  August.  Of  the  whole 
number,  Mr.  Ashrnun  wrote,  "it  may  be  interesting  to  the 
'  Board,  as  a  proof  of  the  extensive  business  and  resources  of 
1  their  Colony,  to  observe,  that  not  more  than  twenty  remain, 
{  even  at  this  early  date,  (only  seven  days  arrived)  a  charge 

<  to  the  United  States.     Two-thirds  of  the  whole  number 
1  have  situations  in  the  families  of  the  older  settlers,  for  terms 
1  of  from  one  to  three  years.     The  remainder  are  at  service, 
'  on  wages,  to  be  paid  them  at  the  year's  end — when  it  is  my 

<  intention  to  treat  them,  in  all  respects  as  settlers,  the  na- 
c  tives  of  the  United  States,  (unless  the  Board  shall,  in  the 
*  interim,  order  differently)  and  assign  them  their  lands  as  to 
c  other  emigrants.     I  have,  however,  engaged  to  all  who  em- 
(  ploy  these  people,  whether  as  apprentices  or  on  service  for 
1  wages,  materials  for  one  suit  of  clothing,  and  one  month's 

<  provisions,  or  its  equivalent  in  tobacco,  for  as  many  as  they 
'  take.     And  this  trifling  gratuity  forms  the  last  object  of  ex- 
1  pense  to  the  United  States,  which  it  is  expected  will  ever 
1  arise  on  this  account.     And  for  this  early  relief,  they  are 
1  wholly  indebted  to  appropriations  made,  however  cautious- 
1  ly  and  sparingly,   towards  the  Colony;  the  members  of 
1  which,  to  repay  the  benefits  received  from  the  United  States, 
'  thus  take  the  burthens  which  would  without  them,  still 

<  continue  to  press  heavily,  and  fulfil  the  benevolent  inten- 

*  "Two  small  children,  one  very  young,  have  been  carried  off.  *  * 
The  most  protracted  case  of  illness  in  the  whole  number,  has  not  lasted  longer 
than  five  days.  Three  days  is  perhaps  the  average  time  of  the  indoors  con- 
finement of  such  as  could  be  pronounced  sick;  about  one-third  part  have  not 
been  closely  confined  atall." — Mr.  ASHMUN. 

Of  Caldwell,  he  observes:  "Taking  its  past  history  for  a  criterion,  a 
healthier  settlement  of  equal  extent,  is  not,  I  presume,  to  be  found  in  all  the 
salubrious  regions  x>f  the  extensive  west  of  our  own  country." 


LIFE    OF    ASH  M  UN.  337 

i  tions  of  Government  towards  the  recaptured  Africans  in 
'  their  most  extensive  sense." 

In  relating  the  proceedings  of  Mr.  Ashmun  during  this 
year,  we  shall  regard  rather  a  methodical  arrangement  of  the 
subjects  to  which  they  relate,  than  an  exact  order  of  the  time 
in  which  they  severally  occurred. 

Early  in  March,  he  resolved  to  visit  the  United  States,  and 
engaged  his  passage  in  a  vessel  which  was  then  expected  to 
leave  the  Colony  on  the  first  of  April.  He  was  disappointed 
by  the  sudden  departure  of  that  vessel  at  an  earlier  d.ay,  and 
before  the  public  affairs  could  be  so  adjusted  as  to  admit  even 
of  his  temporary  absence.  He  purposed,  however,  to  seek  an 
early  opportunity  for  his  return,  and  hoped  to  be  in  Wash- 
ington in  the  month  of  May. 

In  his  letter  to  the  Board,  by  this  vessel,  he  observes:  "I 
'  have  a  negotiation  pending  with  Mama,  for  the  purchase  of 

*  the  northern  part  of  Bushrod  Island — three  different  pieces 
c  of  fortifications  to  complete — the  frame  of  a  receptacle  for 
'  emigrants  one  hundred  feet  in  length  to  finish  and  roof- — two 
'  large  buildings  erecting  for  the  United  States'  Agency,  to 
c  shut  in — besides  countless  arrangements  in  regard  to  smaller 
'  matters  to  make,  before  I  can  possibly  leave  the  Colony.     I 
i  have  more  than  forty  workmen  employed  on  these  different 

*  works,  and  hope  to  see  them  in  a  state  to  leave,  in  three 
<•  weeks." 

Having  stated  that  preparations  were  made  for  the  recep- 
tion, before  the  next  rains,  of  at  least  one  hundred  emigrants 
and  two  hundred  recaptured  Africans,  the  first  of  whom  were 
to  remain  at  Monrovia  and  the  last  to  be  settled  in  a  town  on 
Stockton  creek,  about  two  miles  from  Caldwell,  he  adds: — 
"  At  this  point,  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  St.  Paul's  and 
'  Stockton,  where  I  reside,  I  have  now  a  most  commodious 
'  house  completely  finished  with  kitchen  and  out-houses  sepa- 
<  rate.  There  is  also  a  public  store-house — an  extensive 
1  fortification — a  block  house — Jail — and  now  erecting-,  a  re- 

43 


338 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


'  ceptacle  for  emigrants,  one  hundred  feet  in  length,  over- 
'  looking  both  rivers.  At  the  Cape,  I  have  just  completed  a 
'  new  and  extensive  warehouse,  of  which  the  second  story 
1  is  fitted  up  for  a  printing  office.  Besides  this  building,  the 
( three  settlements  contain  no  less  than  six  public  stores  and 
'warehouses,  altogether  sufficiently  capacious  to  store  com- 
'  modiously  more  public  property  than  will  soon  find  its  way 
'  into  the  Colony.  I  have  been  enabled  to  collect  an  ample 
{  supply  of  rice,  and  hope  to  leave  a  sufficient  supply  of  pro- 
'  visions  and  other  necessaries  for  all  the  dependants  of  the 
'  Agency — should  other  sources  by  accident  be  closed  against 

*  them,  during  my  absence." 

After  alluding  to  the  expense  which  he  had  felt  it  his  duty 
to  incur  in  the  expectation  of  retiring  for  several  months  from 
his  station,  he  assured  the  Board,  that  for  the  same  objects  no 
considerable  expense  needs  soon  to  be  incurred  again.  "I 

*  have  the  prospect,"  he  remarks,  "of  leaving  the  Colony  in  a 
1  safe  and  generally  in  a  prosperous  state.     The  last  year 
(  has,  however,  brought  with  it  trials  and  disappointments — 
{  but  through  the  mercy  of  Heaven  they  are  not  of  a  nature 

I  to  affect,  materially,  the  welfare  of  the  Colony — and  do 
'  not  even  touch  on  the  great  questions  of  its  feasibility;  which 

I 1  hope  every  candid  mind  will  admit  to  be  favourably  de- 
<  cided." 

Having  mentioned  the  loss  of  a  small  amount  of  property 
at  the  St.  John's  Factory;  the  temporary  suspension  of  the 
Sesters  Factory;  the  failure  to  secure  all  which  he  proposed 
in  his  negotiations  with  the  chiefs  of  Cape  Mount,  he  adds: — 
"  Among  my  trials,  none  affect  me  more  painfully,  than  the 
1  want  of  public  spirit,  and  ingratitude  for  favours  received, 

*  shown  by  the  Colonists — particularly    the  people  of   the 
1  Cape   settlement.     But  there  are  noble   exceptions,   and 

*  those  who  form  them,  it  may  be  necessary  and  an  act  of 
( justice,  hereafter  particularly  to  name. 

"It  is  and  long  has  been  my  opinion,  that  too  much  has 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  339 

4  been  done  for  these  people,  for  their  own  advantage.  A 
'  habit  of  indolent  dependance  on  the  hand  of  another  to  feed 
( them,  and  a  restiveness  approaching  to  mutinous,  under  the 

I  slightest  burthens  imposed  for  purposes  most  nearly  connect- 
c  ed  with  their  own  safety,  respectability  and  social  welfare, 
'  are  the  unhappy  consequences  of  the  Society's  generosity 
( towards  this  people — at  least  as  respects  a  majority  of  them. 

I 1  have  seen  the  error,  and  in  the  case  of  the  Caldwell  set- 
1  tiers,  have  avoided  it  so  far.     The  good  effects  of  throwing 

*  them  at  an  early  period  on  their  own  resources,  already  ap- 
1  pear;  and  in  despatching  emigrants  to  the  Colony,  I  think 

<  it  cannot  be  too  early  or  plainly  inculcated  upon  them,  that 

<  they  have  in  this  country  no  resources  except  theif  own 

<  diligent  exertions — and  that  they  can  never  rise  much  above 
1  the  level  of  the  native  Africans,  without  a  generous  and  un- 

<  tiring  devotion  to  the  common  welfare  of  the  new  commu- 

*  nity  they  come  to  form.    Some  among  us  are  only  impressed 

<  by  these  motives,  animated  with  this  spirit — and  they  are 
1  worth  to  the  Colony  all  the  rest" 

On  the  22d  of  April,  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  Doris, 
Mr.  Ashmun  wrote  to  the  Board: — "I  am  at  length  reluctant- 
c  ly  compelled  by  a  sense  of  duty  to  the  Colony,  to  relinquish 
c  my  intention,  so  'long  indulged,  and  so  fondly  cherished, 

*  of  visiting  the  United  States  the  present  season.     The  ar- 
'  rival  of  so  large  a  company,  at  so  late  a  period  of  the  dry 
'  season — the  absence  of  my  colleague — the  multiplicity  of 
£  delicate  and  arduous  duties  devolving  on  an  Agent  in  con- 

*  sequence  of  -the  recent  extension  of  our  settlements — the 
c  very  expensive  improvements  commenced,  and  nearly,  but 
c  not  quite  completed,  are  motives  for  remaining,  to  which  I 
i  dare  not  oppose  private  inclination,  or  any  probable  good 
1  which  might  grow  out  of  my  return  to  the  United  States. 

"Mr.  Hawley  has  intimated  to  me  his  opinion  of  the  im- 
'  propriety  of  the  step  at  the  present  time — and  I  confess  that 

*  the  report  just  received  of  the  untiring  and  laborious  stnig- 


340  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

'  gle  in  which  all  the  active  friends  of  the  cause  in  America, 

*  are  the  present  year  engaged  in  its  behalf,  has  affected  me 

*  with  no  slight  feeling  of  self-reproach,  for  having  so  lightly 

*  determined  myself  to  quit,  even  for  a  season,  the  important 
<  post  of  duty  assigned  to  me.     My  friends,  I  fear,  will  do  lit- 
1  tie  justice  to  these  motives;  but  I  shall  apologise  to  them  in- 
'  the  best  way  I  can — and  put  up  with  the  accusation  I  know 
4  they  will  allege  of  having  trifled  with  their  feelings  by  ex- 
4  citing  expectations  which  my  present  determination  is  ob- 
1  liged  bitterly  to  disappoint."* 

In  the  month  of  May,  the  schooner  Catherine  in  attempting 
to  cross  the  bar  of  the  river,  was  thrown  on  shore  and  seri- 
ously injured;  an  event  much  regretted  by  Mr.  Ashmun,  who 
was  compelled,  in  consequence,  to  buy  provisions  from  trad- 
ing vessels,  and  thus  incur  expense  which  would  have  been 
saved,  could  he  have  found  means  of  conveying  produce  from 
the  Factories  to  Monrovia. 

Having  exposed  himself,  for  four  hours  to  a  heavy  rain, 
in  directing  efforts  to  save  the  schooner,  Mr.  Ashmun  was 
soon  after  seized  with  a  rheumatic  fever,  which  came  near 
depriving  him  of  life,  and  which  produced,  during  the  three 
weeks  of  its  continuance,  more  acute  suffering  than  he  re- 

• 

*  The  question  of  Mr.  Ashmun's  return  had  become  a  political  considera- 
tion of  interest  among  the  chiefs  (near  Cape  Mount)  of  the  Fey  or  Vey 
tribes.  They  somewhat  cautiously  convoked  a  number  of  the  "prognosti- 
cating fraternity,"  to  decide  by  their  auguries  "whether  the  white  Devil  of 
Cape  Mount  would  leave  the  American  place  or  not  this  year."  They  decided 
that  the  chiefs  must  be  cautious  in  adopting  any  measures  founded  on  the  pre- 
sumption of  his  absence.  Mr.  Ashmun  did  not  believe  that  his  depaiture 
would  expose  the  Colony  to  danger,  but  that  attempts  might  in  consequence 
be  made  to  obtain  from  the  Colony,  either  in  the  terms  of  trade  or  otherwise, 
what  might  prove  to  its  disadvantage.  "I  am  unfortunate  enough,"  he  adds, 
"to  hold  in  the  estimation  of  African  friends,  that  bad  eminence,  to  which  mil- 
itary success  is  apt  to  raise  my  betters  in  the  civilized  world."  *  *  *  "But 
from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  I  disclaim  the  vanity  and  reproach  of  supposing 
that  my  presence  or  absence — life  or  death — is  to  affect  the  existence  or  any 
material  interest  of  the  Colony.  An  Omniscient  and  Almighty  Providence 
conducts  its  progress  and  guards  its  safety." 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  341 

membered  ever  before  to  have  endured  in  as  many  months. 
"  The  prescriptions,"  he  remarks,  "of  our  excellent  and  ex- 
1  perienced  assistant  Physician,  the  Rev.  L.  Gary,  under  the 
'  blessing  of  Divine  Providence,  so  far  succeeded  as  to  afford 
'  complete  relief;  only  leaving  me  in  a  very  emaciated  and 
1  enfeebled  state,  about  the  end  of  the  first  week  in  July." 

In  this  state,  on  the  12th  of  July,  he  was  carried  on  board 
of  the  schooner  Eclipse,  from  Philadelphia,  then  lying  at  an- 
chor near  the  Cape,  that  he  might  enjoy  the  benefit  of  the  sea 
air.  The  Captain  of  the  vessel  determined,  on  the  next  day, 
to  visit  Sierra  Leone  and  the  Rio  Pongas,  in  which  voyage, 
Mr.  Ashmun,  incapable  as  he  was  of  attending  to  his  ordina- 
ry duties,  resolved  to  accompany  him.  An  abridgment  of 
the  material  parts  of  his  Journal,  we  here  insert. 

SIERRA  LEONE,  July  \7th. 

"About  twenty  vessels  of  different  descriptions  are  lying  in 
1  this  port;  which,  in  common  with  the  ports  of  the  West  In- 
1  dies  and  other  British  colonial  possessions,  is  closely  shut 
'  against  American  vessels. 

"Several  most  expensive  and  spacious  public  and  private 
c  buildings  have  been  erected  at  this  place,  since  my  former 
1  visit  in  1824.  The  public  buildings  alone  of  Sierra  Leone, 
1  exclusive  of  churches,  and  schools,  and  superintendents7 

*  houses  in  the  remote  settlements,  cannot  have  cost  less  than 

*  four  hundred  thousand  pounds  (one  million  seven  hundred 

*  and  seventy-six  thousand  dollars).     (What  have  the  public 
1  buildings  of  Liberia  cost?)     Early  in  the  morning,  an  Aid  of 
1  Sir  Neil  Campbell,  the  Governor,  came  on  board  with  a  very 
'  polite  invitation  to  make  his  Excellency's  house  my  home 
'  during  my  stay  at  Sierra  Leone.     My  feeble  health  compell- 
1  ed  me  to  decline  this  invitation,  which,  had  I  been  permit- 
'  ted  to  accept,  might  have  afforded  opportunities  of  free  and 
1  full  conversation  and  saved  the  labour  of  a  correspondence, 

*  in  which  I  had  determined  to  engage  with  the  Government 
1  of  that  Colony,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  obtain  its  consent  to 


342  LIFE    OF    ASHMUtf. 

c  a  free  commercial  intercourse  and  barter,  of  the  products 
1  and  imports  of  the  two  Colonies. 

"At  Sir  Neil  Campbell's  house,  I  met  three  young  English 
1  ladies;  but  a  single  month  in  the  Colony  !  I  could  only  re- 
f  gard  them  as  victims  destined  to  the  altar. '  Their  already 
(  fading  bloom  seemed  mournfully  prophetic  'of  the  mortal 
c  ravages  already  commenced  on  their  health  by  a  climate 
1  which  few  or  no  white  females  can  withstand.  Sir  N.  seem- 
1  ed  entirely  sensible  of  the  evils  and  defects  which  had,  from 
f  different  sources  crept  into  the  civil  and  social  state  of  Sierra 
4  Leone — and  equally  desirous  to  find  out  and  apply  their 
c  proper  remedies.  The  spirit  of  his  Government,  like  him- 

<  self,  are  too  military  to  be  popular  with  a  community  formed 
1  under  the  lax  and  indulgent  administration  of  Governor 

*  McCarthy — nor  does  he  ever  condescend  to  those  explana- 
1  tions  which  could,  at  so  easy  a  rate,  do  away  much  of  the 
c  odium  of  his  most  unpopular  acts.     But,  of  his  assiduity, 
•'  and  upright  intentions,  I  believe  all  bear  the  most  honoura- 
1  ble  testimony. 

"The  department  of  recaptured  Africans  has  lately  been 

<  separated  wholly  from  the -Colonial  Government,  with  a 

*  view  to  lessen  the  burthens  of  the  latter;  and  placed  under 
1  the  management  of  Major  Denham,  the  resident  Superin- 
(  tendent  General,  who  reports  directly  to  the  Government 
1  at  home.     Major  Denham  receives  a  compensation  of  three 
c  thousand  pounds  sterling  per  annum  (thirteen  thousand 
c  three  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  !) 

"After  remaining  forty-eight  hours  at  Sierra  Leone,   we 

<  sailed  for  the  Rio  Pongas.     The  Isles  de  Loss,  which  we 
1  passed  at  day-light,  on  the  29th,  are  a  dcpendancy  of  Sierra 
'  Leone,  seventy-five  miles  distant.     On  the  second  largest, 
1  (Crawford's  Island)  four  miles  from  the  mainland,  are  two 
'  merchants  and  several  'small  traders,  who  conduct  a  valua- 

*  ble  barter  with  the  natives  for  their  wax,  rice,  gum,  oil  and 
1  ivory.     We  found  the  British  armed  Colonial  steamboat, 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  343 

'  lying  off  the  mouth  of  the  Pongas,  and  the  North  Star  sloop 
1  of  war,  guarding  the  entrance  of  the  Nunez.  In  attempt- 
*  ing  to  cross  the  bar  of  the  Pongas,  our  schooner  struck  the 
c  ground,  unshipped  her  rudder,  and  was  seriously  endan- 
(  gered. 

"The  Pongas  is  little  more  than  four  large  inlets,  running 
'  from  the  sea  nearly  parallel  with  each  other,  and  at  right 
1  angles  with  the  coast.  Two  of  these  inlets,  only,  admit  of 
c  being  entered  by  vessels  of  burthen.  They  are  distinguish- 
'  ed  by  the  'mud'  and  'sand'-bars.  By  the  former,  .distant 
c  eighteen  miles  to  the  north-west  of  the  sand-bar,  our  schoon- 
1  er  entered  the  river.  These  inlets  are  all  joined  together 
1  by  navigable  bayous,  or  arms,  a  few  miles  from  the  ocean. 

"Like  all  the  rivers  of  western  Africa,  the  navigable  mouths 
1  of  the  Pongas  are  obstructed  with  extensive  shoals;  of  which 
'  the  shoalest  part  of  each  takes  the  name  of  bar.  The  bar 
1  of  the  cmud  channel,'  extends  in  a  semicircular  line,  four 
'  miles  in  front  of  the  river's  mouth,  quite  around  from  shore  to 
1  shore.  The  deepest  water  over  it,  does  not,  at  ebb  tide,  ex- 
*  ceed  two  and  a  half  fathoms.  To  find  it,  open  the  mouth 
'  of  the  river,  and  bring  the  centre  of  the  river's  mouth  in  a 

<  line  with  the  central  point  between  two  prominences  of  a 
1  mountain  called  the  Paps,  and  which  are  too  conspicuous 
1  not  to  be  distinguished — and  steer  directly  in.     The  course 

<  will  be  almost  due  north-east,  by  the  compass.     Keep  the 
4  middle  of  the  river,  up. 

"For  twelve  miles  the  river  is,  on  an  average,  three-quar- 
1  ters  of  a  mile  wide — and  winds  its  sluggish  way  through 
'  a  low  mangrove,  unhealthy,  and  uninhabited  country,  which 
{ is  wholly  divided  by  branches  of  the  river  into  Islands  of 
(  various  sizes. 

"Twenty  miles  from  this  mouth,  you  open  that,  distinguish- 
£  ed  by  the  name  of  the  sand-bar;  and,  five  miles,  higher  upr 
'  come  to  the  first  upland,  admitting  of  being  inhabited.  This 
1  spot,  which  presents  fine  elevated  banks  and  an  extensive 


344  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

*  ridge  of  gravelly  upland,  is  called  Domingo — but  was  de- 
1  populated  in  1824,  and  burnt  in  a  war  between  Wilkinson 
4  and  John  Ormond.     The  extensive  ruins  of  the  old  town, 

*  discover  it  to  have  been  a  place  of  consequence. 

"The  banks  of  the  river  above  Domingo,  are  more  thinly 

*  skirted  with  mangroves;  and  in  many  parts  are  composed 

*  of  the  highland  ridges,  which  extend  quite  down  to  the 

*  water-side. 

"Three  miles  above  Domingo,  the  river  divides  into  two 
'  navigable  branches,  each  about  one-third  of  a  mile  broad. 

*  That  which  takes  a  north-eastern  direction,  is  called  Ban- 

<  gerlang — and  reaches  but  eight  or  twelve  miles  above  the 

<  forks,  when  it  degenerates  into  an  insignificant  stream  of 

<  fresh  water.     The  south-eastern  arm  of  the  river  is  called 
(  Bashea,  and  can  be  ascended  in  boats  thirty-five  miles.     At 
1  this  point,  the  tide-water  terminates,  and  the  river  dwindles 

<  into  a  small  fresb- water  stream,  as  the  other.     At  the  forks 

<  a  most  beautiful  and  somewhat  romantic  country,  of  long, 

*  level  and  moderately  elevated  ridges,  and  intervening  val- 
1  lies,  begins;  and,  I  am  informed,  continues  gradually  assum- 

*  ing  a  more  mountainous  aspect,  quite  into  the  interior  of  the 

<  country. 

"The  Pongas  admits  of  a  safe  navigation  for  vessels  draw- 
1  ing  fifteen  feet  water,  to  the  forks,  thirty  miles  from  the 
6  mud-bar — eighteen  from  the  sand-bar;  which  may  be  carried, 

<  by  a  good  pilot,  about  four  miles  higher  up,  on  either  branch. 
'  But  the  Bashea  is  in  one  part  so  much  obstructed  by  rocks, 

<  a  few  miles  above  the  forks,  as  not  to  admit  of  the  passage 
'  even  of  a  ro \y-boat,  except  at  high  water. 

"The  rise  of  the  ordinary  tides,  in  this  river,  is  ten  feet. 

"The  sand-bar  is  said  to  have  never  less  than  three  and  a 
'  half  fathoms  of  water;  but  from  the  hardness  of  the  bottom, 
4  and  the  narrowness  of  the  channel,  is  less  used  than  the 
4  other. 

"The  country  in  its  general  characteristics,  has  been  al- 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  345 

c  ready  described.     For  several  miles  from  the  ocean,  it  is 

*  low  and  marshy.     Thence,  inland,  it  is  dry  and  elevated. — 
1  Its  prominent  features  are  long  ridges  of  gentle  declivity — 

*  no  great  height — destitute  of  rocks,  admitting  of,  and  even 
1  inviting  cultivation,  quite  over  their  smooth  and  rounded 

*  tops — which,  on  being  ascended,  are  commonly  found  to 
1  consist  of  extensive  tracts  of  table-land.     Occasionally  the 
1  intervening  valleys  sink  too  low,  and  become  marshy — but 
1  they  are  all  extremely  narrow, — some  barely  wide  enough 
1  at  bottom  for  the  channel  of  a  fresh-water  brook,  which  few 
1  of  them  are  without. 

"The  soil  of  the  uplands  is  of  two  varieties.  The  most 
1  prevalent  is  hard  and  gravelly— and  deeply  tinged  with  the 
1  oxyde  of  iron;  of  which  metal,  the  ore  is  said  to  exist  in 
1  many  places,  in  a  very  perfect  state,  and  in  the  greatest 
'  abundance. 

"The  other  variety  of  soil,  is  a  light,  warm,  sandy  loam,  of 
1  a  light  reddish  colour — and  for  rainy-season  crops,  very 
(  productive.  This  soil,  from  its  early  tillage,  as  well  as  pro- 
1  ductiveness,  is  that  generally  chosen  by  the  natives  and  re- 
1  sident  foreigners  for  cultivation.  Most  of  the  uplands  of 
1  the  Pongas  have  been  divested  long  since,  of  their  primary 
c  growth  of  trees,  and  reduced  to  that  slovenly  culture  which 
c  is  practised  by  all  the  native  tribes  of  maritime  Africa.  The 
c  features  of  this  country  certainly  seem  to  warrant  a  pre- 
'  sumption  highly  favourable  to  its  general  salubrity. 

"The  people  of  this  region  are  a  mixed  race,  descended 
c  from  the  former  conquerors  of  the  country,  from  the  interior 
1  and  the  native  inhabitants.  Those  dwelling  between  the 
1  Dembia  river  and  the  Pongas,  and  who  claim  jurisdiction 
1  of  its  southern  bank,  are  called  Naloes;  those  inhabiting 
1  its  northern  bank,  Bagoes.  They  speak  different  langua- 
1  ges  and  appear  to  be  of  a  different  origin.  The  Naloes  are 
1  at  present  independent  and  happy,  under  the  Government 
1  of  Fernandez,  a  coloured  chief  of  considerable  intelligence, 

44 


346  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

1  and  of  a  prudent  and  pacific  character.  The  Bagoes,  un- 
(  der  the  shadow  of  a  Government  directly  administered  by 
c  a  great  number  of  petty  and  jealous  chiefs,  are  wholly  at 
'  the  mercy  of  a  powerful  Foulah  chief,  by  the  name  of 
{  Mahmud,  who,  with  a  numerous  division  of  that  enterpris- 

*  ing  and  intelligent  people,  is  settled  at  the  distance  of  two 
(  days'  journey  to  the  north-east  of  the  sources  of  the  Pon- 

*  gas.     The  Naloes  and  Bagoes  are  mild  and  un warlike. — 

*  The  neighbouring  Foulahs  are  neither. 

"Rice,  and  the  ordinary  vegetables  of  the  coast,  are  culti- 
'  vated,  by  the  natives,  for  their  own  subsistence.  A  small 
1  surplus  of  the  former,  remains  for  exportation.  Goats, 
1  sheep,  poultry  and  swine,  are  also  reared  in  sufficient  quan- 
1  titles  for  domestic  consumption,  and  to  supply  the  few  trad- 
1  ing  vessels  which  visit  the  river.  The  country  is  indiffer- 
c  ently  stocked  with  a  fine  breed  of  red  cattle,  which  are  all 

*  brought  down  by  the  Foulah  traders  from  the  interior. — 

*  Three  kinds  of  rice  are  cultivated — but  all  on  the  uplands, 
1  and  grown  only  in  the  rainy  season. 

"The  trade  of  the  country  has  respect  both  to  the  interior 

*  and  to  the  foreign  vessels  by  which  the  river  is  visited.  Salt, 
{  manufactured  from  the  water  of  the  ocean,  by  boiling,  togeth- 
'  er  with  European  and  American  merchandise,  are  the  arti- 
1  cles  bartered  for  the  productions  of  the  interior — and  wax, 
1  oil,  a  few  hides,  and  a  still  smaller  amount  of  turtle  shell, 
1  are  the  only  products  furnished  by  these  tribes  from  their 
1  own  territory,  for  exportation. 

"But  the  trade  from  the  interior,  which  is  wholly  in  the 
1  hands  of  itinerant  companies  of  Foulahs  and  Mandingoes— 

*  and  brought  from  the  distance  of  one  hundred  to  fifteen 
'.  hundred  miles,  is  vastly  more  important  and  valuable. — 
'  These  industrious  people  arrive  monthly,  at  the  different 

*  trading  stations  on  the  river,  with  gold,  ivory,  coffee,  bul- 
1  locks'  hides,  and  bullocks,  in  companies  of  from  forty  to 
1  four  hundred  persons;  of  whom,  far  the  greater  part  are  do- 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  347 

*  mestic  slaves,  who  serve  as  pack-horses  for  the  merchants 

<  who  own,  or  hire  them.     Their  barter  at  the  Factories  is 

*  regulated  by  the  bar  method  of  computation — and  is  said 

*  to  be  managed  with  prodigious  keenness  and  craft,  on  the 

*  part  of  the  Foulah  merchants.     The  practice  of  making 
'  presents  has  prevailed  to  a  most  ruinous  extent,   in  this 

*  trade;  but,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  is  now  nearly 

<  discontinued.     The  articles  of  foreign  merchandise,   and 

*  coast  produce,  most  in  demand,  consist  of  tobacco,  gums, 

*  powder,  scarlet  cloth,  cotton  stuffs,  rum,  salt,  and  the  cocoa 
-*  nut — produced  abundantly  on  this  part  of  the  coast.     The 

*  gold  is  said  to  be  the  least  profitable  commodity  compre- 
4  hended  in  the  Foulah  trade.     Hides  are  one  of  the  most 
1  advantageous  to  the  purchasers. 

"Formerly,  both  banks  of  the  river  were  occupied  by  a 

*  large  number  of  slave  Factories.     But  the  trade  has  gradu- 
4  ally  fallen  into  decay  under  the  vigilant  and  persevering 
'  opposition  of  the  English — and  has  been  superseded  by  a 
i  brisk  trade  in  the  products  of  the  country,  carried  on  chief- 

*  ly  by  foreign  resident  factors,  with  Sierra  Leone.     Most  of 
f  these  factors  being  the  owners  of  small  vessels,  of  which, 
'  some,  of  very  good  size  and  workmanship,  have  been  con- 

*  structed  in  the  river,  are  their  own  carriers. , 

"Of  the  factors,  two  are  American,  three  or  four  French, 

<  and  nearly  half  a  dozen  Spanish  and  Mulattoes,  of  whom 
1  several  of  the  latter  have  a  good  English  education.     The 
1  most  considerable  traders  on  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
1  have  been  driven  by  the  Foulahs  to  seek  the  protection  of 
6  Fernandez,  on  the  southern  (or  Bashea)  branch. 

"All  these  individuals  have  allied  themselves,  by  something, 

*  which  in  Africa,  passes .  for  marriage,  with  the  most  pow- 

*  erful  native  families,  and  are  the  proprietors  of  slaves.     One 

*  factor  has  upwards  of  seven  hundred  people,  each  of  the 

*  Americans  about  one  half  of  that  number.    For  misconduct, 
1  these  domestics  are  liable  to  be  sold  to  the  Foulahs  of  the 


348 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 


*  interior,  and  bring,  the  men,  on  an  average,  five  bullocks, 
c  and  the  women  always  something  more.     Slavery  exists 
'  here  in  a  more  revolting  form,  than  on  any  other  part  of  the 
1  coast  which  I  have  visited. 

"The  seasons  do  not  materially  dhTer  from  those  of  Libe- 
(  ria;  except  in  the  prevalence  and  effects  of  the  harmattan 
'  wind,  which  is  never  a  cause  of  inconvenience  to  the  south 
'  of  north  latitude  eight  degrees.  This  breeze,  at  Montserado, 
'  always  of  gentle  force,  and  generally  grateful  and  salu- 
1  brious,  assumes  at  the  Pongas  the  harmattan  character; 
1  blows  with  the  violence  of  a  gale;  and  descending  from  the 
(  mountains  of  the  interior,  diffuses  a  chilliness,  little  short 
1  sometimes  of  freezing,  throughout  the  atmosphere,  and  is  of- 
<  ten  the  cause  of  pulmonary  complaints,  and  sometimes  of 
1  great  mortality. 

"The  rains  here  seldom  fully  set  in  before  the  early  part 
c  of  July,  (six  weeks  later  than  at  Montserado)  become  copi- 
'  ous  with  strong  blowing  weather  throughout  the  month  of 

*  August,  from  which  they  gradually  decrease  until  their 
-*  termination,   about  the  first  of  November.     The  upland 
1  country  commencing  at  Domingo,  twenty-five  miles  from 
'  the  sea,  is  in  my  opinion,  as  healthy  as  any  part  of  the  coast." 

Mr.  Ashmun  then  states,  that  his  chief  object  in  exploring 
and  transmitting  this  cursory  description  of  the  Pongas  was, 
to  enable  the  Board  to  form  a  correct  judgment  in  regard  to 
the  expediency  of  undertaking  to  found  a  settlement  on  its 
banks.  The  following  comprise,  in  a  brief  view,  his  reasons 
for  and  against  the  measure  : 

"1st.  The  Society's  settlements  in  Africa,  require  a  port, 
1  which  vessels  of  all  sizes  may  safely  enter  for  trade,  biit  es- 
1  pecially  for  repairs,  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  There  is  no 
( such  harbour  at  Monrovia.  But  a  settlement  on  any  of  the 
'  navigable  parts  of  the  Pongas,  would  possess,  in  an  eminent 

*  degree,  all  the  advantages  of  a  safe  and  commodious  harbour. 

"2d.     The  site  of  a  settlement,  whether  for  trade  or  agri- 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  349 

*  culture,  can,  at  present,  be  obtained  with  little  difficulty  or 

<  expense.     I  was  urged  by  persons  of  the  first  influence,  to 
{  select  the  site  of  a  settlement — and  promised  their  interest 
1  with  the  chiefs  who  hold  the  country  by  hereditary  right. — 

<  The  present  factors  would  gladly  yield  up  a  part  of  their 

<  present  feeble  independence,  in  order  to  enjoy  the  protec- 

<  tion  of  an  organized  Government.     It  was  farther  stated, 

<  that  the  American  factors,  in  conjunction  with  other  influ- 
1  ential  residents  and  chiefs,  drew  up  a  memorial,  addressed 
« to  the  Colonization  Society,  so  early  as  1820,  setting  forth 

*  the  advantages  of  the  river,  for  an  American  settlement, 

*  and  offering  to  use  their  interest  in  the  country  in  favour 

<  of  such  an  establishment.     Their  memorial  either  miscar- 

<  ried.  or  was  for  other  reasons,  passed  over,  unanswered. — 

<  Their  views  and  wishes  continue  the  same. 

"3d.     The  advantages  to  be  derived  to  the  Colony  at  large 
1  from  the  trade  of  this  river,  are  great— and  to  render  them 

<  still  more  valuable,  the  river  supplies  the  very  articles  of 
1  African  produce,  which  Liberia, .  at  present,  wants. 

"4th.     The  occupation  of  a  place  on  the  Pongas  would  se- 

<  cure  to  the  Colonization  Society  a  territory  for  future  uses, 
1  on  a  central  and  important  part  of  the  windward  coast  of 
1  Africa. 

"5th.    Another   inviting  circumstance  -belonging  to  the 

<  lands  of  this  river,  is  found  in  the  large  proportion  of  them, 
1  already  reduced  by  the  natives  to  cultivation.     The  present 
1  settlers  at  Montserado,  who  never  had  it,  can  best  appreciate 

<  the  value  of  such  an  advantage. 

"On  the  contrary,  I  remark,  1st,  that  the  policy  of  extend- 

<  ing  the  territorial  limits  and  multiplying  the  individual  set- 
1  tlements  of  the  Colony,  by  dividing  and  consequently  weak- 
t  ening  its  strength,  may  admit  of  a  question.     To  perfect 
1  the  organization,  business,  and  institutions  of  the  Colony,  it 
1  is  necessary  to  concentrate  its  population. 

"2d.     Perhaps  the  jealousies,  which  so  grasping  an  act  as 


350  LIFE    OF   ASHMUN. 

{ that  of  comprehending  the  Pongas  within  the  Colony,  must 
c  directly  arouse,  in  the  foreign  Governments  having  African 
'  colonies,  and  in  those  colonies  themselves,  would  subject  the 
c  future  operations  of  the  Society,  to  a  troublesome  scrutiny, 
4  (which  it  has  hitherto  escaped)  and  to  frequent  embarrass- 
'  ments.  *  Would  it  not  be  best  to  leave  off  contention 
1  before  it  be  meddled  with? 

"3d.     The  inquiry  must  naturally  arise,    In  what  way  is 

*  the  growth  of  a  Colonial  settlement  likely  to  be  affected 

*  by  the  vigorous  system  of  slavery,  and  of  the  slave  trade, 
1  carried  on  from  the  sea  coast  to  the  interior,  as  they  now 
1  exist  on  the  Pongas? 

"It  were  safer,  and,  in  my  opinion,  easier,  to  found,  and 

<  carry  on  for  Jive  years,  a  settlement  of  the  Colony,  on  a 
£  part  of  the  African  coast  unfrequented,  certainly  not  inhabit- 
£  ed,  by  European  and  American  traders,  than  to  receive  the 

<  aid  of  such  at  first,  and  run  the  great  risk  of  their  hostility 
'  afterwards — easier  and  safer  to  colonize  St.  John's,  than 
1  Pongas. 

"A  fort,  it  must  be  admitted,  is  essential  to  the  future  pros- 

*  perity  of  Liberia.     But,  with  such  a  river  as  Montserado, 
'  and  such  a  promontory  as  our  Cape  in  direct  contact — the 
1  one  of  a  sufficient  depth  of  water  to  float  the  heaviest  ships, 
'  and  the  other  of  sufficient  height  and  projection  to  shelter 
£  them,  it  is  impossible,  the  Colony,  peopled  by  the  natives  of 
£  the  United  States,  should  long  be  without  a  commodious 

*  harbour.     A  little  more  experience  and  skill  to  project,  and 
'  much  more  money  than  we  yet  have,  to  execute  the  neces- 
c  sary  works,  is  all  that  the  Colony  requires  to  furnish  it  with 
1  one  of  the  safest  and  most  accessible  harbours  in  Africa." 

In  the  correspondence  to  which  we  have  already  alluded 
between  Mr.  Ashmun  and  Sir  Neil  Campbell,  Governor  of 
Sierra  Leone  and  its  dependencies,  the  former,  after  express- 
ing the  friendly  sentiments  cherished  by  the  Board  of  Direc- 
tion in  America  and  by  the  people  of  Liberia,  (which  he  de- 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  351 

clared  had  been  inspired  in  part  by  favours  conferred  on  the 
American  settlement  in  its  early  stages,  by  the  Government 
of  Sierra  Leone)  suggested,  that  the  proximity  of  the  two 
colonies  and  the  diversity  of  the  imports  into  each  from  their 
respective  parent  countries,  pointed  out  the  mutual  advanta- 
ges, to  be  expected  from  a  more  cherished  and  intimate  com- 
mercial intercourse  than  had  yet  been  cultivated.  English 
products  and  manufactures  brought  either  from  Great  Britain 
or  her  African  and  West  Indian  colonies,  had  thus  far  been 
introduced  without  restriction  or  duties  into  Liberia,  and  it 
was  thought  but  reasonable,  to  expect  that  this  liberality 
would  be  reciprocated  by  the  Government  of  Sierra  Leone,  " 
and  become  the  basis  of  a  permanent  commercial  intercourse 
between  the  colonies. 

In  reply  to  Mr.  Ashmun's  first  letter,  the  Governor  of  Si- 
erra Leone,  after  expressing  his  best  thanks  for  the  senti- 
ments contained  in  it,  on  the  part  of  the  writer,  the  direction, 
and  people  of  the  American  Colony  of  Liberia,  towards  the 
Colony  of  Sierra  Leone,  adds:  "Be  assured,  Sir,  that  corres- 
ponding feelings  are  sincerely  and  cordially  cherished  in 
this  Colony  towards  Liberia  by  myself  and  every  inhabitant, 
and  therefore  I  trust  you  will  not  ascribe  an  adherence  to 
the  instructions  of  the  British  Government,  and  acts  of  the 
Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  to  the  slightest  diminution  of 
those  feelings.  By  a  reference  to  the  last  document  upon 
the  subject  of  your  letter,  which  is  the  order  in  council,  dated 
27th  of  July,  1826,  (and  which  I  have  the  honour  to  send 
herewith)  you  will  see  that  I  have  it  not  in  my  power  to  ex- 
ercise any  discretion  with  regard  to  the  reciprocal  accommo- 
dation, which  you  have  been  pleased  to  suggest  in  such 
friendly  terms;  as  goods,  the  produce  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  can  only  be  imported  into  British  possessions  on 
the  coast  of  Africa,  in  British  ships  registered  and  navigated 
according  to  law." 

In  his  second  note,  Mr.  Ashmun  observes:     "It  affords  me 


352  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

1  the  highest  possible  satisfaction  to  be  apprised  of  the  preva- 
{ lence  of  those  very  friendly  sentiments  towards  the  Colony 

<  of  Liberia,  which  dictated  several  passages  of  your  Excel- 
1  lency's  letter,  and  while  I  regret  the  existence  of  causes, 
1  which,  operating  in  distant  hemispheres,  have  proved  the 
1  occasion  of  restraining  the  natural  correspondence  of  those 
1  remote  and  neighbouring  settlements,  I  console  myself  with 
1  the  hope,  that  the  restraint  is  not  to  last  always;  and  will 
'  not,  during  its  continuance,  be  productive  of  that  alienation 

<  of  feeling,  which  often  sunders  in  all  their  moral  sympathies, 

*  communities  locally  united." 

In  a  third  letter  to  Sir  Neil  Campbell,  Mr.  Ashmun  ex- 
presses the  hope  that  the  object  of  an  unrestricted  trade,  may 
be  viewed  as  of  such  interest,  not  to  Liberia  only,  but  to  Si- 
erra Leone,  as  to  authorize  a  particular  representation  to  his 
Britannic  Majesty's  Government.  He  informed  his  Excel- 
lency, that  Liberia  could  not  be  viewed  as  a  Colony  of  the 
United  States;  that  it  had  sprung  up  under  the  protecting 
care  of  a  Benevolent  Society;  "that  individuals  could  be  nam- 

*  ed,  to  whose  counsels  and  influence  the  settlements  of  Libe- 
4  ria,  in  part  owe  their  origin,  whose  splendid  talents,  moral 
'worth,   and  high  official  rank,  make  them    conspicuous 
4  amongst  the  brightest  ornaments  of  Great  Britain  and  con- 
c  tinental  Europe;"  that  the  Constitution  of  this  Colony  was 
designed  to  prepare  the  people  for  all  the  rights  and  privile- 
ges of  self-government;    "arid  the  ultimate  and  permanent 
'  object  of  the  establishment,  the  improvement  and  benefit  of 
'  the  African  race;"  and  in  conclusion,  observes: 

"This  explanation  of  the  character  and  intention  of  the 
{  establishment  of  Liberia,  will,  I  flatter  myself,  clear  the 
c  main  proposition  which  I  have  the  honour  to  submit  in 
1  these  papers,  from  all  objections  arising  out  of  the  supposed 
c  political  relation  of  Liberia  to  the  United  States  of  America; 
'  and  present  it  to  your  Excellency,  and  the  Executive  of  j 
1  England,  as  an  infant  community,  appealing  in  the  weak- 


LIFE    OF    AS II INJUN.  353 

;  ness  of  its  separate  and  solitary  o,  to  the  magna- 

*  nimity,  not  to  say,  the  justice  of  the  British  Government, 
i  for  an  exception  from  certain  commercial  disadvantages, 

<  under  which  the  U.  States,  by  acts  in  which  the  Colony 
4  could  not  participate,  has  placed  itself. 

"It  must  readily  occur  to  your  Excellency,  that,  from  the 

*  nature  of  the  African  trade,  the  demand  in  the  Colony  of 

*  Sierra  Leone  for  the  merchandise  of  Liberia,  (of  which  a 
i  most  important  part  consists  of  certain  articles,  not  the  pro- 
'•  duce  of  Great  Britain,  or  any  of  her  colonies)  will  jever  be 
;  urgent: — and  on  the  other  hand,  that  a  similar  demand  for 
4  English  manufactures  must  ever  exist,  and  continually  in- 

*  crease  with  the  extension  of  trade,  in  Liberia.     Permit  a 
4  free  trade,  and  both  colonies  enjoy  an  important  accommo- 
1  dation  and  invaluable  advantage.     Prohibit  such  an  inter- 

<  change,  and  a  most  important  vent  for  the  staples  of  trade 

*  in  which  the  colonies  will  respectively  abound,  is  recipro- 

*  cally  closed  up.     For  restriction  on  one  side,  must,  by  a 
1  natural  course,  be  followed  by  answerable  restrictions  and 
1  prohibitions  on  the  other.     But  from  the  proximity  of  the 

*  colonies,  which  their  growth  and  exte?ision  must  every  year 
increase,  another  evil  of  a  fearful  character,  must,  I  appre- 

<  hend,  unavoidably  grow  out  of  the  restrictions,  on  one  hand, 

<  and  the  temptation  to  great  pecuniary  advantages,  on  the 

*  other: — I  allude  to  that  most  pernicious  of  the  perversions 
i  of  commercial  enterprise — smuggling.     And  in  this  uncom- 
c  fortable  anticipation,  I  deceive  myself,  if  I  have  not  the  re- 

*  suit  of  every  experiment  made  on  human  nature,  under  si- 
'  milar  inducements,  lor  my  authority. 

"In  conclusion,  your  Excellency  will  pardon  a  zeal  which 
1  in  its  efforts  to  secure  an  important  benefit  to  Liberia,  should 
1  advert  to  the  advantages  of  the  proposed  measures  of  accom- 
'  modation,  to  the  Colony  of  Sierra  Leone.  It  probably  will 
'not  be  questioned,  that  the  proposed  free  intercourse  be- 
L  tween  the  sister  colonies,  will  prove  much  more  conducive 

45 


354 


L1KK     OK     ASH  .M  UN. 


i  of  the  prosperity  of  Sierra  Leone,  separately  considered, 
1  than  the  actual  restrictive  system.  And  has  not  the  Colony 
4  of  Sierra  Leone  some  peculiar  claims  on  the  indulgence  of 
1  its  paternal  government?  Docs  she  not  derive  such  claims 
4  from  the  truly  liberal,  and  even  charitable  nature  of  the 
4  work — the  work  of  colonizing  Africa,  and  restoring  her  ex- 
4  iled  children  to  their  home  and  country, — which  led  to  the 
1  establishment  of  the  Colony?  Has  Sierra  Leone  no  claims 
'  to  special  indulgence  on  account  of  the  great  sacrifices, 
1  struggles,  and  even  sufferings -of  its  people  to  preserve  and 
'  carry  on  their  Colony,  from  the  period  of  its  origin  nearly 
•*  down  to  the  present  time?  And  has  not  the  justice  of  the 
4  British  Government  always  generously  recognized  these 
'  claims?  But  which  of  these  considerations  will  not,  with 
'  the  enlightened  philanthropy  of  the  age,  amount  to  an  ar- 
'  gumcnt  of  easy  and  obvious  application  to  the  congenial 
{  Colony  of  Liberia? 

Early  in  the  year,  a  treaty  of  peace  was  concluded  between 
the  Colonial  Agent  and  the  principal  chief  at  Trade  Town, 
by  which  the  two  parties  were  bound,  mutually  to  maintain 
-and  encourage  between  them  friendly  intercourse  and  an 
equitable  trade,  and  to  regard  as  sacred  and  inviolable  the 
persons  and  property  of  each  other. 

Almost  simultaneously  the  Colonial  Factory  at  Young 
Sesters  was  suspended,  in  consequence  of  depredations 
committed  upon  it  by  the  surrounding  people,  and  es- 
pecially, on  account  of  a  fierce  war  beginning  to  rage  be- 
tween the  chiefs  of  tjiat  country  and  Trade  Town.  Mr. 
Ashmun  visited  both  of  these  places,  and  for  three  days,  was 
engaged  in  unavailing  efforts  to  reconcile  the  contending  par- 
ties. Both  agreed  to  respect  the-  Colonial  property;  and  both 
offered  to  give  to  the  Colonial  Agent,  the  whole  country  of 
their  enemy,  provided  he  would  assist  them  to  subdue  it.— 
Freeman  (the  chief  of  the  Young  Sesters  country)  and  his  al- 
lies, engaged  to  enrol  themselves  with  all  their  people  and 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUIf.  355 

country,  as  vassals  and  fiefs  of  the  Colony,  on  condition  that 
they  were  assisted  by  the  Agent  and  his  forces  against  their 
foe  of  Trade  Town;  "but  from  the  first,"  says  Mr.  Ashmun, 
"  all  were  given  expressly  to  understand,  that  our  whole 
*  force  was  sacred  to  the  purpose  of  self-defence  alone,  against 
1  the  injustice  and  violence  of  the  unprincipled;  that  while 
c  we  were  ready  to  benefit  all  our  neighbours,  we  could  in- 
1  jure  none;  and  that  if  we  could  not  prevent  or  settle  the 
c  wars  of  the  country,  we  should  never  take  part  in  them." 

This  war  terminated  amicably,  and  for  the  advantage  of 
the  Sesters,  at  an  earlier  period  than  was  expected;  the  Co- 
lonial property  confided  to  King  Freeman,  had  been  scrupu- 
lously preserved  amid  all  the  disorder  and  alarm  of  hostili- 
ties, and  the  Factory  was  re-established  in  strength  and  pros- 
perity. The  chief  would,  he  said,  relinquish  one  half  of  all 
his  territories,  rather  than  see  the  Colonial  settlement,  in  the 
midst  of  his  people,  abandoned. 

Mr.  Ashmun  founded,  during  this  season,  an  Infirmary 
for  invalids,  on  a  plan  which,  while  it  secured  to  the  sick,  in- 
firm, and  aged,  the  means  of  a  comfortable  subsistence,  good 
attendance,  and  medical  aid,  enabled  such  of  them  as  were 
not  incapable  of  exertion,  to  contribute  by  their  labour  to  the 
support  of  themselves  and  families.*  It  was  not  designed  to 
admit  emigrants  during  their  sickness  caused  by  change  of 

*  The  ends  to  be  accomplished  by  this  Infirmary,  are  represented  by  Mr. 
Ashmun  to  be, 

1st.    To  secure  the  comfort  of  the  diseased  and  sick. 

2d.    To  furnish  them  with  constant  and  regular  medical  attention. 

3d.  To  obliga  them  to  such  diet,  exercise  or  rest,  and  to  the  use  of  such 
remedies,  as  shall  effect,  in  most  cases,  a  speedy  cure. 

4th.  To  put  even  the  invalids  of  the  Colony  in  a  situation  to  support,  in 
part,  or  whole,  themselves  and  their  families. 

5th.  To  provide  an  asylum  for  the  poor  and  otherwise  helpless  of  the  Co- 
lony. 

6th.  To  teach  industry  and  skill,  particularly  in  the  little  arts  of  domestic 
life,  to  many  of  the  ignorant,  slovenly,  and  slothful  cf  both  sexes. 

7th.    To  render  it  a  Seminary  of  manufactures. 


356  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

climate,  into  this  Institution;  but  to  reserve  its  benefits  for 
friendless,  aged,  and  distressed  persons,  whose  circumstances1 
or  condition  would  not  permit  them  to  resort  elsewhere  for 
relief.  In  the  month  of  November,  Mr.  Ashniun  stated  that 
the  Infirmary  answered  its  design  fully;  that  patients  almost 
hopelessly  afflicted,  had  there  rapidly  recovered;  that  about 
half  of  those  then  under  its  care,  were  in  perfect  health;  and 
that  the  expense  of  the  establishment  was  less  than  the  ori- 
ginal estimate. 

The  whole  system  of  schools  which  had  been  suspended 
in  its  efficient  operations,  by  the  death  of  tfie  Rev.  Mr.  Holton, 
was  re-organized  early  in  this  year,  on  the  Lancasterian  plan, 
and  placed  under  the  general  superintendence  of  the  Rev.  G. 
M'Gill,  an  intelligent  and  experienced  coloured  Teacher,  from 
Baltimore.  The  schools  were  sufficiently  numerous  and  am- 
ple to  aiford  instruction  to  every  child  (including  those  of 
the  natives)  in  the  Colony,  and  all  were  obliged  to  attend 
them.*  The  expenses  of  these  schools  were  defrayed  in  part 
out  of  surplus  funds  in  the  Colonial  Treasury,  and  in  part  by 
an  anmtal  subscription  by  the  Colonists  of  one  thousand  four 
hundred  dollars,  including  the  sum  of  three  hundred  dollars 
subscribed  by  the  Colonial  Agent  to  be  paid  out  of  such  means 
as  might  be  placed  at  his  disposal.  The  native  school  under 
the  direction  of  Messrs.  Gary  and  Lewis,  derived  partial  sup- 
port from  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  of  Richmond,  "and 
'  the  hopes  of  the  African  tribes,"  said  Mr.  Ashmun,  "from 
'  Gallinas  to  Trade  Town,  are  at  present  suspended  upon  it. 
'  Most  of  the  boys  who  attend  it,  are  sons  of  the  principal  in- 

*  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  schools,  with  the  number  of  scholars  at- 
tached to  each: 

Rev. 'Mr.  Gary's  school  for  native  children,  45 

Rev.  Mr.  M'Gill's  classes,  16 

Mr.  Stewart's  school,  44 

Miss  Jackson's  do.  40 

Mrs.  Williams'  do.  30 

Mr.  Prout's        do.              -  -              -              -         -         -         -          52 


LIFE    OP    ASHMUN.  357 

'  dividuals  of  tlie  country;  and  more  than  half  can  now  read 
1  the  New  Testament  intelligibly,  and  understand  the  English 
'  language  nearly  as  well  as  the  settlers  of  the  same  age. — 
'  The  number  of  these  interesting  learners  may  be  indefinite- 
1  ly  increased,  if  means  are  supplied;  and  with  the  prospect 
c  of  vast  advantage,  both  to  the  native  population  of  the  coun- 
1  try  and  the  Colony  itself." 

The  method  by  which  emigrants  just  arrived  in  Africa, 
could  be  most  economically  subsisted,  and  most  beneficially 
aided  in  the  commencement  of  their  labours,  had  been  to  Mr. 
Ashmun  long  a  subject  of  deep  reflection.  He  now  express- 
ed distinctly  his  views  upon  it,  to  the  Managers.  In  regard 
to  subsistence,  he  reiterated  the  opinion,  that  to  purchase 
African  provisions  with  trade  goods,  (an  assortment  of  which 
should  always  be  in  possession  of  the  Colonial  Agent)  was 
incomparably  the  most  economical  course  that  could  be  adopt- 
ed, and  that  the  expense  of  such  provisions  adequate  to  the 
support  of  a  company  of  settlers  for  six  months  after  their  ar- 
rival, might  be  fairly  estimated,  by  the  cost  of  their  supplies, 
during  their  passage  across  the  ocean.  He  was  convinced 
that  this  mode  of  subsistence  would  be  far  more  promotive 
of  the  health  of  the  emigrants,  than  any  other.  In  respect 
to  further  aid,  he  advised  that  all  emigrants  should  be 
encouraged  to  bring  with  them  mechanical  tools  and 
agricultural*  implements,  with  cooking  and  domestic  uten- 
sils; that  such  as  had  not  these  articles,  should  receive 
them  from  the  Society;  that  all  should  be  provided  gra- 
tuitously, for  a  reasonable  term,  with  comfortable  houses; 
that  every  man  should  have  assigned  to  him  at  once,  his  build- 
ing lot  and  farm;  and  that  the  frugal  and  industrious  should 

*  "When  tools,  &c.  are  bought  for  emigrants,  they  ought,  if  for  mechan- 
ics, to  be  of  course,  those  of  their  trades — otherwise,  to  consist  almost  wholly 
of  axes,  broad  and  narrow,  a  large  supply; — hoes,  tilling  and  grubbing; — picks, 
spades;  saws,  whip,  crosscut,,  and  hand;  files,  trowels,  drawing-knives,  and 


358  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

derive  such  additional  assistance,  as  might  comport  with  the 
means  of  the  Society  and  their  own  respective  merits.  Few, 
under  these  circumstances,  it  was  believed,  \vould  long  delay 
to  fix  themselves  on  their  own  premises,  and  be  occupied 
with  their  own  improvements.  Those  not  settled  on  their 
lands,  it  was  suggested,  should,  if  mechanics,  labour  at 
their  trades — if  farmers,  cultivate  a  public  farm,  and  receive  a 
reasonable  compensation  in  provisions  and  clothing  from  the 
public  store. 

Individuals  while  on  the  sick  list,  were  to  be  subsisted 
and  furnished  with  medical  attendance  at  the  public  expense; 
but  only,  until  so  far  recovered  as  to  be  able  to  contribute  to 
their  own  support. 

It  was  reported  by  Mr.  Ashman,  as  a  fact  well  attested  by 
experience  in  the  Colony,  that  the  aged  were  peculiarly  lia- 
ble to  fall  victims  to  the  African  climate.  Under  'circumstan- 
ces the  most  favourable,  they  could  gain  but  little  by  removal 
to  Africa;  while  the  probability  was  great,  that  even  should 
they  survive  the  earliest  impressions  of  the  climate,  the  natu- 
ral decay  of  age  would  be  hastened  rapidly  to  death. 

Mr.  Ashmun  neglected  no  means  of  animating  the  Colo- 
nists with  zeal  and  enterprise  in  the  adoption  and  prosecution 
of  plans  of  public  utility.  A  company  was  formed  this  year, 
for  the  purpose  of  improving  the  navigation  of  Montserado 
river,  stock  subscribed  to  the  amount  of  about  one  thousand 
dollars,  and  pledges  given  to  raise  the  sum  to  four  thousand, 
if  necessary  to  effect  the  object. 

The  recaptured  Africans  had  proved  orderly,  industrious, 
and  useful.  Familiarly  acquainted  with  the  ordinary  modes 
of  African  agriculture,  and  comparatively  insensible  to  the 
injurious  influences  of  the  climate,  they  had  commenced  their 
settlements  with  the  fairest  prospects  of  success. 

Alluding  to  the  probability  that  the  U.  States'  Agency  in 
the  Colony,  might  be  discontinued,  or  its  importance  extreme- 
ly reduced,  Mr.  Ashmun  expressed  the  hope,  that  as  Cape 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUX.  359 

Montserado  must  become  a  sort  of  depot  for  American  com- 
merce in  that  quarter  of  the  world,  and  a  rendezvous  for  that 
portion  of  the  U.  States'  Navy,  which  must  in  future  (more 
than  in  time  past)  he  employed  along  that  coast,  the  Govern- 
ment might  be  persuaded  to  construct  a  strong  fortress  on  the 
height  of  Thompson  Town,  (near  the  extremity  of  the  Cape) 
or  at  least  sustain  and  extend  the  battery  already  there  erect- 
ed. He  declared  his  belief  that  an  arrangement  between  the 
Government  and  the  Society,  by  which  the  latter  should 
agree,  for  a  stipulated  annual  consideration,  to  accomplish  the 
humane  objects  proposed  by  the  former,  in  the  establishment 
of  an  Agency  in  Liberia,  would  prove  of  great  mutual  advan- 
tage to  the  parties;  that  the  money  appropriated  by  the 
former,  would  be  better  applied,  its  work  more  economically 
executed,  while  all  collision  of  different  interests  would  be 
prevented,  and  the  Colony  derive  strength  from  the'  entire 
unity  of  its  members  in  their  political  responsibilities  and 
character.  The  property  of  the  United  States,  consisting 
principally  of  fortifications  and  public  buildings,  should,  he 
thought,  in  case  the  Government  should  recall  its  Agent,  be 
relinquished  to  the  Colony.  These  buildings,  he  observes, 
were  indeed  constructed  with  the  U.  States'  money.  "But 
1  who  furnished  workmen  and  mechanics?  Who  the  ground 
1  on  which  they  stand?  Who  has  protected  and  preserved 
*  tliem?.  Certainly  the  property  of  the  United  States  in  those 
'  erections  is  qualified,  to  say  the  least,  by  these  and  other 
'  considerations,  and  will  be  so  admitted,  I  believe,  by  the 
'  Executive." 

In  the  month  of  December,  touched  at  the  Colony,  the 
United  States  ship  of  war  Ontario,  Captain  Nicolson,  on  her 
return  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  United  States,  and  the 
friendly  interest  evinced  in  the  afFarrs  of  the  settlement  by  her 
commander,  as  well  as  a  valuable  donation  of  seeds,  which 
he  had  taken  special  care  to  obtain  in  the  Archipelago,  Asia 
Minor,  and  at  Tunis,  are  gratefully  acknowledged  by  the 


360  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

Colonial  Agent.  On  his  arrival  in  America.  Captain  Nicol- 
son  bore  testimony  to  the  general  contentment  and  industry 
of  the  Colonists — the  rapid  progress  made  by  them  in  public 
and  private  improvements,  and  to  their  salutary  and  growing 
influence  over  the  native  tribes. 

On  the  same  day,  Mr.  Ashmun  welcomed  to  the  Colony, 
the  first  of  several  Swiss  Missionaries,  who  in  consequence 
of  his  communication  to  the  venerable  Dr.  Blumhardt,  had 
consented,  under  instructions  from  the  Basle  Missionary  So- 
ciety, to  devote  their  lives  to  the  propagation  of  Christianity 
among  the  Africans. 

The  system  of  Government  adopted  in  1824,  had  continued 
without  any  material  alterations,  to  fulfil  the  great  purposes 
for  which  it  was  established.     The  annual  election  resulted 
in  the  re-appointment  of  most  of  the  officers  of  the  preceding 
year.     The  political  year  was  commenced  with  every  pros- 
pect of  the  vigorous  and  harmonious  operation  of  the  Go- 
vernment.    "The  principles  of  social  order,"  said  Mr.  Ash- 
mun,  "of  a  good,  equitable  and  efficient  Government,  are 
deeply  and  plentifully  implanted  in  the  minds  of  the  influ- 
ential part,  if  not  of  a  majority,   of  the  Colonists;  and 
promise  the  certain  arrival — I  do  riot  think  it  will  be  early, 
however — when    the    Board    can   safely   withdraw    their 
1  Agents,  and  leave  the  people  to  govern  themselves." 

In  his  last  communication  to  the  Managers,  during  this 
year,  Mr.  Ashmun  presented  a  comprehensive  view  of  the 
state,  progress,  and  prospects  of  the  Colony.  Dividing  the 
settlers  into  four  classes,  he  described  the  first,  embracing 
nearly  one-half  of  the  whole  population. as  settled  in  circum- 
stances of  independence,  in  comfortable  dwellings  on  their 
own  cultivated  premises,  and  industriously  occupied  with 
mechanical  or  commercial  pursuits:  The  second,  as  just 
placing  themselves  in  their  new,  but  in  some  cases,  unfinish- 
ed houses — clearing  their  lands,  and  though  contending  with 
difficulties  in  their  efforts  to  sustain  themselves  and  families, 


LIFE    OF    ASIIMUN. 

and  occasionally  desponding  on  account  of  the  embarrass- 
ments and  hardships  of  their  condition;  yet,  with  a  prospect 
of  attaining  in  the  course  of  a  few  months,  to  an  easy  and 
respectable  establishment:  '  The  third,  as  constituted  of  those 
less  than  a  year  in  Africa,  mostly  in  the  public  receptacles 
or  rented  houses,  imperfectly  inured  to  the  climate,  partially 
dependant  upon  the  Society,  beginning  moderately  to  labour 
on  wages  for  the  older  settlers,  or  in  constructing  their  houses 
and  preparing  their  lands  for  cultivation;  and  the  fourth,  as 
including  all  the  idle  and  improvident,  not  entirely  useless  to 
the  Colony,  but  securing  no  valuable  interests  for  themselves. 
The  Colony  was  sustained  in  its  growth,  almost  wholly  by 
its  own  industry.  It  was  a  subject  for  regret,  that  the  life  of 
this  industry  was  rather  in  its  trade  and  commerce,  than  its 
agriculture.  The  country  fertile,  the  products  thereof  va- 
rious, rich  and  abundant,  the  prosperity  induced  by  trade, 
obviously  more  fluctuating  and  precarious  than  that  arising 
from  agriculture,  yet  situated  as  were  the  Colonists,  on  the 
central  part  of  an  extensive  coast,  with  a  vast  field  of  com- 
mercial enterprise  opening  before  them — tempted  to  seek  im- 
ttiediate  gains,  rather  than  remote,  though  surer  and  more 
important  advantages,  Mr.  Ashmun  expressed  his  belief,  that 
for  some  time,  at  least,  agriculture  was  destined  to  follow  in 
the  train  of  trade,  and  not  to  lead  it.  The  former  interest 
had  been  fostered  and  encouraged,  in  every  possible  way,  by 
the  Colonial  Government,  The  premiums  proposed  by  the 
Board  to  such  as  should  engage  most  successfully  in  this 
employment,  had  proved,  to  some  extent,  beneficial,  The 
farmers  at  Caldwell,  had  associated  themselves  into  an  Agri- 
cultural Society,  at  the  weekly  meetings  of  which,  the  mem- 
bers  reported,  individually,  their  progress  on  their  plantations, 
discussed  freely  one  or  more  practical  questions,  on  which  a 
vote  was  finally  taken,  and  each  question  unanimously  de^ 
termined,  recorded  as  a  maxim  in  the  practical  agricuU 
ture  of  the  settlement*  The  members  were  pledged  to  re- 

46 


362  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

duce  these  maxims  to  practice.  Mr.  Ashmun  attended  the* 
meetings  of  this  Society,  and  testified  to  its  utility.  "Many," 
he  observes,  "of  the  settlers  at  Caldwell,  are  actively  employ- 
1  ed  on  their  farms,  this  season;  and  there  remains  not  a  doubt, 
'  that  the  products  of  the  Colony,  the  ensuing  year,  will  equal 
1  its  consumption,  in  every  article  except  rice.  I  have  led 
( the  way  in  a  farm  of  eight  acres — which,  considering  the 
*  richness  of  the  soil — the  perennial  growth  of  every  plant 
'  and  crop — and  the  most  prolific  nature  of  vegetation  in  this 
(  country,  is  no  contemptible  piece  of  tillage."* 

Four  military  cmopanies  had  been  voluntarily  organized 
and  equipped  by  the  Colonists,  of  whom,  only  about  half  a 
dozen  were  not  enrolled  to  bear  arms  for  the  public  defence. 

Nearly  the  whole  expense  of  the  Colonial  Government 
and  the  United  States'  Agency,  had  been  defrayed  by  the 
profits  realized  in  the  trade  of  the  Factories  established  by 
the  Agent.  A  small  schooner  was  constantly  employed  in 
conveying  to  these  Factories  articles  for  the  barter  traffic,  and 
in  bringing  in  return  supplies  of  rice  and  other  products  of 
the  coast.  The  nett  profits  amounted,  during  the  year,  to 
little  short  of  five  thousand  dollars. 

*  The  following  list  of  animals  and  products  then  rearing  in  the  Colony, 
and  which  Mr.  Ashmun  remarked,  could  not  in  future  be  wanting,  unless 
through  the  inexcusable  negligence  or  Indolence  of  the  settlers,  may  be  of 
some  interest  to  our  readers : 

Of  Animals,  Horses,  Cattle  in  abundance,  Sheep,  Goats  in  abundance,  dsses 
are  lately  introduced,  Fowls,  Ducks,  Geese,  Guinea  Fowls,  Swine  numerous — 
Fish  nowhere  found  in  greater  quantities.  Fniits  are  Plantains,  Bananas,  in 
endless  abundance,  Limes,  Lemons,  Tamarinds,  Oranges,  Sousop,  Cashew, 
Mangoe,  20  varieties  of  the  Prune,  Guava,  Papaw,  Pine  Jpple,  Grape,  tropi- 
cal Peach  and  Cherry.— Vegetables  are  Sweet.  Potatoe,  Cassada,  Fowis,  Cocoa, 
Ground-nut?,  Arrow-root,  Egg-plant,  Ocre,  every  variety  of  Beans,  and  most 
sorts  of  Peas,  Cucumbers  and  Pumpkins.  Grains  are  Rice,  the  staple — Indian 
Corn,  Coffee  excellent  and  abundant— Pepper  of  three  varieties,  of  which  each 
is  equal  to  Cayenne— Millet  and  Guinea  Corn— Cotton,  staple  good,  but  not 
yet  cultivated.  To  these  may  be  added  Indigo,  which,  it  is  thought,  may  be 
raised  to  advantage,  and  the  Sugar- Caup,  which  may,  and  doubtles*  will,  ulti- 
mately receive  attention. 


OF  A™,,. 

Important  accessions  had  been  made,  during  the 
the  Colonial  Territory. 

The  chiefs  of  Cape  Mount  (with  whom  negotiations  had 
been  commenced  the  preceding  year)  had  stipulated  to  con- 
struct a  large  and  commodious  Factory  for  the  Colonial  Go- 
vernment; to  guaranty  the  safety  of  all  persons  and  property 
belonging  to  the  Factory;  to  exact  no  tribute  from  those  who 
might  resort  to  it;  to  encourage  trade  between  it  and  the  in- 
terior; and  forever  to  exclude  foreigners  from  similar  privile- 
ges, and  from  any  right  of  occupancy  or  possession  in  their 
country. 

The  right  bank  of  Bushrod  Island,  extending  the  whole 

O  /  O 

length  of  Stockton  Creek,  (which  unites  the  Montserado  and 
St.  Paul's)  had  been  ceded  to  the  Society.  This  Island  con- 
tains twenty  thousand  acres  of  fertile,  level  land,  promising 
greatly  to  enrich  the  agricultural  interest  of  the  Colony. 

An  invaluable  tract  of  land,  of  indefinite  extent,  on  the  north 
side  of  the  river  St.  John's,  contiguous  to  Factory  Island, 
had  also  been  added  to  the  possessions  of  the  Society.  Fac- 
tories had  been  erected  on  the  Island,  and  on  both  branches 
of  the  river,  "and  they  form,"  said  Mr.  Ashmun.  "new  links 
*  of  union  between  the  tribes  along  the  St.  John's  and  your 
1  Colony."  "The  interests  of  both  and  all,"  he  continues, 
:t  are,  I  trust,  at  no  great  distance  of  time,  to  become  perfect- 
c  ly  identical,  and  one  numerous  and  Christian  nation,  using 
1  our  language  and  enjoying  our  institutions,  to  cover  the 
'  whole  western  coast  of  Africa." 

At  no  less  than  EIGHT  STATIONS,  on  the  line  of  coast  from 
Cape  Mount  to  Trade  Town,  had  the  Colonial  Government 
obtained  the  right  of  founding  settlements;  and  over  this  en- 
tire line  of  coast,  extended  the  influence  aud  partial  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Colony. 

It  was  a  part  of  the  plan  of  Mr.  Ashmun,  (a  plan  thns  far 
carried  into  effect)  to  cultivate  a  farm  or  farms,  at  each 
of  the  Colonial  Factories,  in  the  belief,  that  it  would  prove 


364  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

mutually  advantageous  to  the  Colonists  and  the  people  of  the 
country.  He  expressed  a  deep  sense  of  the  importance  of 
founding  schools  for  the  native  youth  and  children  of  the  re- 
spective tribes  in  which  the  Colonial  establishments  were 
situated.  "Whether,"  lie  remarks,  "we  regard  such  schools 
1  as  a  cheap  means  of  extending  the  power  of  the  Colony — 
c  as  the  most  effectual  instruments  of  civilizing1  the  continent 

O 

'  — as  a  noble  exercise  of  Christian  philanthropy,  or  the  best 

*  expression  of  Christian  piety,  (and  the  object,  I  think,  is  sus- 
c  ceptible  of  each  of  these  views)  no  work  connected  with  the 
'  rearing  of  the  Colony,  is,  in  my  opinion,  more  desirable.     I 

*  think  it  nearly  capable  of  moral  demonstration,  that  the  Af- 
1  rican  tribes  may  be  civilized  without  expulsion  from  their 
1  chosen   settlements  and  villages,  and  without  that  fearful 
1  diminution  of  their  population,  which  has,  from  causes 
1  that  do  not  exist  here,  as  in  regard  to  the  Indians  of  Ame- 
1  rica,  accompanied  the  march  of  civilization  in  that  hemis- 
1  phere" 

A  citizen  of  the  Colony,  during  this  year,  penetrated  into 
the  interior  to  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  forty  miles, 
where  he  discovered  a  numerous  population,  industrious  and 
intelligent,  possessed  of  a  written  language,  with  some  know- 
ledge of  the  useful  arts,  of  a  productive  agriculture,  and  shar- 
ing largely  in  the  comforts  and  social  enjoyments  of  life.  To 
open  and  maintain  a  friendly  intercourse  with  these  people, 
was  an  object  of  much  solicitude  to  the  Colonial  Agent. 

That  the  chiefs  between  Cape  Mount  and  Trade  Town, 
had  bound  themselves  to  exclude  all  others,  except  the  people 
of  Liberia,  from  a  settlement  in  their  country;  that  they  were 
anxiously  seeking  an  education  for  their  sons  in  the  Colony; 
that  they  were  universally  at  peace  with  its  inhabitants;  and 
that  when  a  robbery  had  been  committed  by  a  few  lawless  in- 
dividuals on  a  company  of  the  Bassa  people  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Agent,  more  than  one  thousand  native  men  were 
.marched  under  arms,  to  place  themselves,  at  his  command, 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  365 

were  facts,  demonstrative  of  the  powerful  influence  acquired 
Over  rude  minds  by  a  policy,  in  which  truth  was  blended 
with  meekness,  and  justice  with  humanity.* 

To  what,  under  Providence,  above  all  things  else,  is  the 
extraordinary  success  of  the  infant  Colony  of  Liberia  to  be 
attributed/  AVhut,  that  principle,  animating  a  feeble  compa- 
ny of  illiterate  and  hitherto  obscure,  if  not  oppressed  men,  on 
the  borders  of  a  remote  and  savage  land,  in  sickness,  and 
want,  and  peril,  to  manifest  a  degree  of  patience,  and  forti- 
tude, and  valour,  not  unworthy  of  the  educated  and  the  hon- 
oured of  the  most  enlightened  age  and  nation?  What,  that 
power,  which  enabled  such  men  to  rise  above  all  the  misfor- 
tunes of  life,  and  all  the  terrors  of  death,  that  they  might  be- 
queath to  their  posterity  and  their  race,  certainly,  a  worthy 
example,  possibly,  the  unmeasurable  blessings  of  freedom  and 
Christianity?  It  was  the  spirit,  the  power  of  true  Religion. 
They  lived  under  the  influence  of  the  world  to  come.  Their 
faith  and  hope  were  alike  in  God.  More  concerned  to  secure 
the  rewards  of  another  life,  than  to  escape  the  afflictions  of 

*  In  December,  Mr.  Ashmun  spent  several  days  in  attendance  on  a  Coun- 
cil of  the  Dey  chiefs.  They  complained  much  of  the  influence  of  the  Colony 
in  diminishing  the  slave  trade,  and  resolved  to  raise  the  price  of  their  wood 
and  rice,  about  one  hundred  per  cent.,  making  many  insinuations  against  the 
Colonists.  These  were  promptly  met  by  a  statement  of  facts,  on  the  part  of 
the  Agent,  which  left  the  sensible  among  them,  nothing  to  say;  as  well  as  by 
•an  immediate  regulation  on  the  part  of  the  Colony,  inflicting  a  heavy  fine  on 
any  member  thereof,  who  should  pay  them  more  than  the  usual  prices  for  their 
produce.  On  the  15th  of  this  month,  eight  of  these  Chiefs  and  about  fifty  of 
their  people,  dined  with  the  Colonial  Agent,  who  ordered  a  bullock  dressed 
for  the  occasion.  "Very  little  rum,"  says  Mr.  Ashmun,  "was  used,  which  I 
gave  them  particularly  to  understand,  was  withheld  by  design;  that  a  regard 
for  their  own  good  and  that  of  their  countrymen  and  subjects,  had  determined 
th-e  Fathers  of  the  Colony  very  sparingly  indeed  to  dispense  to  them  this  secret 
poison — a  precaution  which  their  own  good  sense  must  tell  them,  deserved 
their  gratitude,  and  must  prove  to  them  how  different  were  the  characters  of 
those  gentlemen,  from  that  of  the  mercenary  foreigners,  who  to  serve  their 
own  selfish  ends,  never  hesitated  to  drown  the  reason  of  half  the  country, 
with  puncheons  of  rum,  and  take  advantage  of  their  intoxication  to  carry  off 
iheir  people  by  hundreds." 


366  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

this,  they  found  a  remedy  for  the  one,  in  the  anticipations  of 
the  other. 

At  the  time  of  which  we  write,  few,  if  any  villages,  in  our 
own  country,  exhibited  less  to  offend,  or  more  to  gratify,  the 
eye  of  a  Christian,  than  the  village  of  Monrovia.  The  gen- 
eral order  and  sobriety,  the  universal  respect  for  the 
Sabbath,  and  the  various  Institutions  and  duties  of  Chris- 
tianity, struck  the  natives  with  surprise,  and  excited  the  admi- 
ration of  foreigners.* 

*  The  following  sentences  are  extracted  from  a  valuable  article  in  the  Amu- 
let for  1832,  ascribed  to  a  distinguished  British  Officer,  who  had  been  three 
years  on  the  African  coast: 

"Nothing  Las  tended  more  to  suppress  the  slave  trade  in  this  quarter,  than 
the  constant  intercourse  and  communication  of  the  natives  with  these  indus- 
trious colonists.  The  American  Agent,  Mr.  Ashmun,  tookevery  opportunity 
and  means  in  his  power,  to  extinguish  a  traffic  so  injurious  in  every  way  to 
the  fair  trader;  and  at  Cape  Montserado  good  and  correct  information  was  al- 
ways to  be  obtained  of  any  slave  vessels  on  the  coast  within  the  communica- 
tion or  influence  of  the  Colony.  This  active,  respectable,  and  intelligent 
man,  is  since  dead,  but  his  spirit  still  actuates  all  his  people.  They  have 
several  large  boats  and  small  decked  vessels  belonging  to  their  community, 
and  others  in  progress  of  building.  These  are  actively  employed  in  trading 
along  the  coast,  and  in  keeping  up  the  intercourse  with  Caldwell  and  the  in- 
terior. 

"The  character  of  these  industrious  colonists  is  exceedingly  correct  and  mor- 
al, their  minds  strongly  impressed  with  religious  feelings,  their  manners  serious 
and  decorous,  and  their  domestic  habits  rerrfarkably  neat  and  comfortable.  *  * 
Their  houses  are  well  built,  ornamented  with  gardens  and  other  pleasing  dec- 
orations, and  in  the  inside  are  remarkably  clean— the  walls  well  white-wash- 
ed, and  the  rooms  neatly  furnished.  They  are  very  hospitable  to  strangers, 
and  many  English  naval  officers  on  the  station  have  been  invited  to  dine  with 
them,  and  joined  in  their  meals,  which  were  wholesome  and  good.  The  man 
of  the  house  regularly  said  grace,  both  before  and  after  meat,  with  much  so- 
lemnity, in  which  he  was  joined  by  the  rest  of  his  family  with  great  seeming 
sincerity.  They  all  speak  good  English,  as  their  native  language,  and  with- 
out any  defe.ct  of  pronunciation.  They  are  well  supplied  with  books,  par- 
ticularly Bibles  and  liturgies.  They  have  pastors  of  their  own  colour,  and 
meeting-houses  in  which  divine  service  is  well  and  regularly  performed  every 
Sunday,  and  they  have  four  schools  at  Montserado,  and  three  at  Caldwell. — 
By  one  ship  alone  they  received  five  hundred  volumes,  presented  by  Dart- 
mouth College,  and  several  boxes  and  packets  of  school-books,  sent  by  friends 
at  Bo«*on. 


LIFE    OF   ASHMUN.  367 

"How  it  is,"  remarks  Mr.  Ashmun,  "in  other  parts  of  the 
World,  I  have  only  heard  and  read.     But  in  this  Colony  I 

*  have  seen  the  direct  and  inseparable  connection  of  Christi- 
4  anity,  taking-  in  its  doctrines,  its  worship,  and  its  practical 

*  fruits — with  all  that  is  mentally  and  morally  improving, 

*  all  that  is  exalting  to  human  nature — in  a  word,  with  all 
'  that  is  good  and  excellent  among  us. 

"There  is  no  room  for  speculation  on  this  point,  no  room 
4  for  reasoning.  Premises  and  conclusion  are  both  embodied 
1  in  one  and  the  same  obvious  fact.  There  is  a  pious  family — 

*  and  there  stands  a  firm  pillar  of  the  Colony.     Industry,  in- 
1  telligence,  order,  competency,  and  peace,  are  its  character- 
1  istics.     There  is  a  family  without  religion:  I  have  only  to 
c  reverse  the  characteristics  of  the  first,  and  that  family  is 
(  described." 

An  address,  transmitted  by  the  citizens  of  Monrovia,  in 
the  summer  of  this  year,  to  the  coloured  people  of  the  U. 
States,  was  happily  adapted  by  its  facts,  argument,  and  elo- 
quence, to  create  strong  confidence  in  the  wisdom  of  the 
enterprise  in  which  they  had  engaged.  They  declared 
that  in  removing  to  Africa,  they  had,  sought  for  civil  and 
religious  liberty,  and  that  their  expectations  and  hopes  in 
this  respect  had  been  realized.  The  great  mortality  which  had 
occurred  in  the  earliest  years  of  the  Colony,  they  attributed 
principally  to  the  dangers,  irregularities,  privations,  dis- 
couragements, and  want  of  medical  experience,  which 
are  almost  necessarily  attendant  on  the  plantation  of  new 

"The  complete  success  of  this  colony  is  a  proof  that  negroes  are  by  proper 
•care  and  attention,  as  susceptible  of  the  habits  of  industry  and  improvements 
of  social  life  as  any  other  race  of  human  beings;  and  that  the  melioration  of 
the  condition  of  the  black  people  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  by  means  of  such  co- 
lonies, is  not  chimerical.  Wherever  the  influence  of  this  colony  extends,  the 
-slave  trade  has  been  abandoned  by  the  natives,  and  the  peaceful  pursuits  of 
legitimate  commerce  established  in  its  place.  *  *  A  few  colonies  of  this 
'kind,  scattered  along  the  coast,  would  be  of  infinite  value  in  improving  the 
natives." 


368  LIFE    OP    ASHMUN. 

settlements  in  a  distant,  uncleared  and  barbarous  coun- 
try. After  a  few  months'  residence  in  Africa,  they  en- 
joyed health  as  uniformly  and  in  as  perfect  a  degree  as  in  their 
native  country.  They  believed  that  a  more  fertile  soil  than 
that  of  Liberia,  and  a  more  productive  country,  so  far  as  it 
is  cultivated,  did  not  exist  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  vir- 
tuous and  industrious  were  nearly  sure  to  attain  there,  in  a 
few  years,  to  a  style  of  comfortable  living,  which  they  might 
in  vain  hope  for,  in  the  United  States.  "Truly  we"  (it  is  their 
own  language)  "have  a  goodly  heritage;  and  if  there  is  any 
thing  lacking  in  the  character  or  condition  of  the  people  of 
this  Colony,  it  never  can  be  charged  to  the  account  of  the 
country:  it  must  be  the  fruit  of  our  own  mismanagement  or 
slothmlness,  or  vices.  But  from  these  evils  we  confide  in 
Him,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  all  our  blessings,  to  pre- 
serve us.  It  is  the  topic  of  our  weekly  and  daily  thanksgiv- 
ing to  Almighty  God,  both  in  public  and  in  private,  and  he 
knows  with  what  sincerity, — that  we  were  ever  conducted 
by  his  Providence  to  this  shore.  Such  great  favours  in  so 
short  a  time,  and  mixed  with  so  few  trials,  are  to  be  ascribed 
to  nothing  but  his  special  blessing.  This  we  acknowledge, 
We  only  want  the  gratitude  which  such  signal  favours  call 
for.  Nor  are  we  willing  to  close  this  paper  without  adding 
a  heartfelt  testimonial  of  the  deep  obligations  we  owe  to  our 
American  patrons — and  best  earthly  benefactors;  whose  wis- 
dom pointed  us  to  this  home  of  our  nation;  and  whose  ac- 
tive and  persevering  benevolence  enabled  us  to  reach  it. — 
Judge,  then,  of  the  feelings  with  which  we  hear  the  motives 
and  the  doings  of  the  Colonization  Society  traduced — and 
that,  too,  by  men  too  ignorant  to  know  what  that  Society  has 
accomplished;  too  weak  to  look  through  its  plans  and  inten- 
tions; or  too  dishonest  to  acknowledge  either.  But,  without 
pretending  to  any  prophetic  sagacity,  we  can  certainly  pre- 
dict to  that  Society,  the  ultimate  triumph  of  their  hopes  and 
labours;  and  disappointment  and  defeat  to  all  who  oppose 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  369 

them.  Men  may  theorize,  and  speculate  about  their  plans  in 
America,  but  there  can  be  no  speculation  here.  The  cheer- 
ful abodes  of  civilization  and  happiness  which  are  scattered 
over  this  verdant  mountain — the  flourishing  settlements 
which  are  spreading  around  it — the  sound  of  Christian  in- 
struction, and  scenes  of  Christian  worship,  which  are  heard 
and  seen  in  this  land  of  brooding  pagan  darkness — a  thou- 
rand  contented  freemen  united  in  founding  a  new  Christian 
empire,  happy  themselves, -and  the  instruments  of  happiness 
to  others:  every  object,  every  individual,  is  an  argument,  is 
demonstration,  of  the  wisdom  and  the  goodness  of  the  plan  of 
Colonization. 

"Where  is  the  argument  that  shall  refute  facts  like  these? — 
And  where  is  the  man  hardy  enough  to  deny  them?" 

Mr.  Ashmun  was  accustomed  to  write  upon  those  practical 
subjects  which  claimed  his  attention.  He  has  left  a  great 
variety  of  papers  containing  his  reflections  on  the  affairs  and 
interests  of  the  Colony.  There  is  one,  penned  near  the 
close  of  this  year,  specifying  some  of  the  objects  to  be  pro- 
moted during  his  contemplated  visit  to  the  United  States, 
and  the  rules  for  his  own  conduct  in  his  endeavours  to  ac- 
complish them.  These  objects  related  both  to  the  Colony 
and  to  his  own  personal  duties  and  improvement. 

To  obtain  the  establishment  of  a  packet  to  run,  at  least 
thrice  a  year,  from  the  Chesapeake  to  Liberia — a  Superinten- 
dent of  schools — a  female  Teacher — (if  possible  from  the 
south)  and  a  Printer,  were  among  the  objects  deemed  princi- 
pal in  importance.  Of  the  rules  adopted  for  his  own 
conduct  in  matters  of  business,  we  copy  the  following : 

"Attempt  to  carry  no  point  not  worthy  of  my  utmost  zeal 
1  and  exertion. 

"Never  press  a  measure  till  those  with  whom  I  would  car- 
'  ry  it,  are  sufficiently  enlightened  as  to  its  nature  and  neces- 
1  sity. 

47 


370  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

"Let  the  grounds  of  every  measure  be  perfectly  ascertained 
1  to  my  own  mind. 

"Have  never  more  than  one,  at  most  two  measures,  on 
'  the  carpet  at  one  time,  unless  there  is  such  a  connexion 
'  between  them,  that  they  shall  mutually  support  each  other. 

"My  time  is  short.  Waste  not  a  moment.  Let  my  zeal 
'  glow  in  every  feature.  It  will  open  a  speedy  way  for  me 
1  through  every  dther  man's  engagements,  indolence  and  dis- 
1  affection. 

"Do  thoroughly  every  thing  I  undertake. 

"Avow  every  thing  personal,  especially  all  such  personali- 
1  ties  as  have  the  most  distant  relation  to  myself. 

"Mix  none  of  the  trifles  of  the  day,  with  serious  business. 

"Cultivate,  as  the  best  means  of  succeeding  in  business,  an 
1  unaffected,  but  exact  politeness. 

"Too  great  punctuality  with  myself  or  others,  cannot  be 
'  observed. 

"Too  great  modesty  of  deportment  or  language,  cannot  be 
1  shown. 

"In  doing  business,  the  great  key  to  success,  is  to  aim  only 
1  at  effects — the  effects  produced  are  the  only  measure  of 


Under  a  calm  and  meek  aspect  and  demeanor,  there  was 
in  Ashmun  an  ever  burning  desire  for  intellectual  and  moral 
improvement;  a  restless  spirit  rof  activity  not  to  be  satisfied, 
but  with  the  boundless  and  the  Eternal.  It  is  true  he  had 
moments  of  peace,  but  only  as  he  communed  with  hope,  and 
felt  conscious  of  sympathies  and  affections  uniting  him  to  the 
invisible  world.  That  melancholy  thoughts  sometimes 
darkened  the  light  of  his  soul,  is  certain.  These  might  be 
traced  to  his  constitutional  temperament — to  the  extinction 
of  his  earliest  and  most  precious  hopes  of  worldly  happiness, 
and  to  a  deep  sense  of  deficiency  in  those  religious  attain- 
ments which  both  reason  and  faith  had  taught  him  to  seek 
as  the  paramount  and  imperishable  good  of  his  nature. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  371 

Minds  capable  of  high  excitement,  are  generally  subject 
to  occasional  depression;  that  sensibility,  which  is  produc- 
tive of  great  happiness,  becomes  not  unfrequently,  an  inlet  to 
misery. 

Nor  can  we  doubt,  that  the  deep  fountains  of  the  heart 
were  mingled  with  private  sorrow ;  that  those  gentle 
affections  which  once  had  gathered  in  homage  around  an  ob- 
ject now  lost  to  him  forever,  were  cast  in  bitter  grief  upon  her 
image  in  memory  enshrined,  like  withered  flowers  .upon  the 
lifeless  form  of  beauty  and  of  worth. 

Those  who  have  witnessed  the  funeral  of  their  own  hopes, 
can  best  appreciate  the  fortitude  which  gains  strength  by 
suffering;  and  the  resolution  that  enables  its  possessor  to 
triumph  over  his  own  weakness,  while  by  public  virtues  he 
wins  public  honours,  and  builds  up,  even  amid  the  moulder- 
ing ruins  of  his  own  expectations,  the  fortunes  of  mankind. 

He,  who,  as  he  has  less  reason  to  live  for  himself,  lives  the 
more  for  others,  finds  a  compensation  for  all  his  losses  in  his 
benevolence,  and  turns  his  private  evils  to  the  public  good. 

"By  those  that  deepest  feel,  is  ill  exprest 
The  indistinctness  of  the  suffering  breast, 
Where  thousand  thoughts  begin,  to  end  in  one 
Which  seeks  from  all,  the  refuge  found  in  none." 

Yet  the  melancholy  thoughts  of  Ashmun  did  find  a  refuge 
in  that  which  lias  been  called  the  "Sabbath  and  the  port  of 
all  man's  labours  and  peregrinations."  Religion  opened  be- 
fore him  scenes  of  peace  and  felicity,  more  sweet  and  charm- 
ing than  the  fabled  regions,  to  which  ^Eneas  was  conducted 
through  the  land  of  shades  and  of  death,  the 

locos  laetos  et  amoena  vireta 

Fortunatorum  nemorum,  sedesque  beatas 
Largior  hie  campos  aether  et  lumine  vestit 
Purpureo:  Solemque  suum  sua  sidera  norunt. 

"His  ardent  spirit  could  not  satisfy  itself  with  things  seen, 
though  gilded  with  all  tlio  glories  of  intellect  and  imagina- 
tion; it  soared  away  in  search  of  other  lands,  looking  with 


372  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

unutterable  desire  for  some  surer  an'd  brighter  home  beyond 
the  horizon  of  this  world."* 

As  he  approached  his  eternal  home,  not  dimly,  nor  doubt- 
fully revealed,  his  love  for  its  objects  became  more  intense; 
but  as  his  faith  acquired  vigour,  and  his  hopes  rose,  he  de- 
scended in  humility. 

This  last  virtue  shone  forth  from  amidst  the  others 
which  adorned  him,  like  a  retiring  beauty,  the  more  observed 
as  she  would  escape  observation;  admired,  because  uncon- 
scious of  any  claim  to  praise.  How,  in  the  judgment  of 
Ashmun,  did  all  human  excellence  sink,  in  comparison  of 
that  surpassing  moral  beauty,  once  only  seen  among  men, 
in  the  person  of  their  Redeemer;  that  in  despair  of  them- 
selves, they  might  trust  in  the  Divine  mercy,  and  aspire 
through  His  power  and  grace  to  a  victory  over  death,  and  to 
a  sinless  immortality  in  that  new  heaven  and  new  earth, 
wherein  dwelleth  righteousness. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  following  extracts  from  Mr.  Ashmun's 
private  Journal,  that  he  entertained  a  very  humble  opinion 
even  a,t  this  period,  of  his  advancement  in  the  religious  life : 

"I  pray  for  more  strength — more  light — more  grace — more 
1  of  the  spirit  of  holiness.  When  I  look  at  my  life,  my  heart, 
'  I  despair;  when  to  the  greatness  of  God  the  Father's  mer- 
'  cy,  and  the  infinite  merits  of  His  Son's  atonement,  I  hope: 
1  and  occasionally  Christ  appears  a  greater  Redeemer  than  I 
1  a  sinner.  But  if  I  know  my  own  heart,  there  is  not,  on  earth, 
1  there  never  was  a  child  of  God  in  the  comparison  of  my- 
1  self  with  whom,  I  do  not  feel  ashamed.  But  I  still  have 
1  hope:  and  look  forward  to  that  God,  whose  gift  if  I  have 
1  grace,  that  grace  is  to  perfect  his  own  work,  and  glorify 
'  himself  in  and  by  me. 

'•Wednesday  4th — Thursday  r>th — Friday  6th — Saturday 
1  7th— Sum!  Monday  9th — Tuesday  10th  July,  W<MV 

jisu--:  sing..and  (l;:iinvrous  illness.  IVrhnps  my  bodily 

'   Schiller's  Lil'e. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  373 

'  sufferings  were  never  greater.  But  my  mind  was  commonly 
c  kept  in  peace — some  murmers,  and  more  impatience;  but 
1  God  be  praised  for  the  measure  of  grace  He  did  give  me. — 
'  I  resolved  (and  I  believe  His  spirit  moved,  and  will  enable 
'  me  to  accomplish  the  resolution,)  to  live  more  to  the  glory  of 
1  God — to  bear  my  cross — and  sell  all  my  earthly  wealth  for 
'  the  pearl  of  heavenly  value.  My  feelings  were  not  rapture 
'  — they  were  not  triumph- — but  they  were  deep,  peaceful, 

<  confiding  and  penitent;    blessed  be  God  the  Holy  Ghost. — 
c  I  often  wandered,  through  the  force  of  my  most  painful  dis- 
'  order — but  found  my  spirit  in  every  lucid  interval,  still 
'  trembling  back  to  its  celestial  polar  star.     I  have  ventured 
'  to  set  down  so  much — too  much,  were  nothing  but  my  poor 
i  self  concerned  in  these  imperfect  exercises  of  a  renovated 
'  mind.     Let  the  record,  then,  remind  me,  as  often  as  I  read 

*  it,  of  the  infinite  grace  of  God,  which  chose  such  a  mean 
1  and  venomous  worm  to  operate  in  such  sort,  upon: — and 
'  it  will  never  inflate  my  pride,  but  shame  it. 

"SUNDAY,  AUGUST  12. 

"God  is  pleased  to  cause  His  face  to  shine  upon  me,  and 
'  be  gracious.  I  read  His  Word  with  some  pleasure  and  pro- 
'  fit — am  strengthened,  and  assisted  in,  and  moved  to,  my 
c  duties.  Crosses  are  light — and  His  grace  (for  to  Him  I  as- 
'  cribe  all)  disposes  me  to  embrace  them,  and  to  deny  myself. 
'  But  there*  is  always  at  hand  a  dark  reverse  of  all  that  is  right, 
'  dutiful  and  holy,  in  the  inbred  corruptions,  and  practical  de- 
'  fects  which  I  feel,  and  mourn,  and  detest  in  myself.  When 
'  I  refer  to  the  work  of  God's  grace,  in  and  for  me,  no  lan- 
1  guage  can  celebrate  it  sufficiently,  or  express  my  wonder 

<  and  joy:     When  I  advert  to  myself,  no  language  can  equal 

*  the  sense  I  have  of  my  guilt,  and  of  the  worthlessness  of  my 
'  character.     I  even  suffer  in  comparison  with  the  worst  of 
'  my  fellow-men.     Captain  C.  in  a  scurrilous  letter  he  sent 

*  me  in  the  Pongas,  called  me  a  'liar.'     I  was  less  indignant 
'  at  him,  than  smitten  with  the  justice  of  the  reproach;  and 
'  applied  to  myself — 'if  when  ye  do  evil,  and  suffer  for  it,  ye 


374  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

c  take  it  patiently,  what  thanks  have  ye?  But,  liar,  my  own 
1  conscience  testifies,  I  do  not  wish,  or  intend  to  be.  O  Lord, 
c  for  humility  to  cover  and  be  worn  by  me,  like  a  garment,  all 

*  the  days  of  my  life  !     Cure  me,  holy   God,  of  my  propen- 
f  sity  to   backbite   and  slander  thy  creatures,  whose  judg- 
1  ment  is  with  Thee.     'Tis  my  fault— and  a  besetting  one. 

."Overrule  and  conquer   my  habit  of. 'idle  speaking.' — I 

*  adopt  the  language  (with  greater  reason)  of  rny  dear  depart- 
c  ed  Brother  F. — 'Not  one  in  ten  thousand  of  my  words  has 
1  been  right.' 

"I  read  Owen  with  great  pleasure,  and  rind  him  evangeli- 
'  cal  and  spiritual,  far  beyond  expectation.  One  trait  of  his 
'  writings  is  particularly  pleasing — the  fullness  with  which 
'  he  constantly  insists  on  the  necessity  of  the  illuminating  and 
'  sanctifying  inspirations  of  the  Divine  Spirit  to  understand 
c  and  relish  the  doctrine  of  Christ — and  the  believer's  privi- 
'  lege  to  enjoy  direct  communion  with  the  great  God,  through 
'  His  Son  Jesus  Christ.  I  know  not  how  I  came  by  the  pre- 
'  judice,  but  it  has  long  kept  me  from  entering  on  the  peru- 
<  sal  of  his  works,  that  Owen  was  rather  a  verbal  critic,  and 

*  polemic,    than    an   evangelical,    discriminating,    practical 
'  Divine,  of  too  sound  and  sanctified  a  judgment,  to  trifle 
'  with  the  word  of  God,  by  descending  to  tedious  and  unpro- 
c  fitable  refinements.     But  thanks  be  to  God,  for  so  rich  a 
£  treasure  of  scriptural  instruction  as  I  find  in  these  writings." 

The  following  letter  was  addressed  to  his  friend,  the  Rev. 
William  Hawley,  of  Washington  City : 

"CALDWELL,  March  11,  1827. 

"Rev.  and  Dear  Sir: — It  is  Sunday — and  one  of  the 
1  last  I  expect,  for  some  months  at  least,  to  spend  on  this 
:  coast — but  lately  making  a  part  of  the  region  of  the  sha- 
'  dow  of  death — and  even  now  an  extreme  outskirt  of  the 
'  Christian  world.  I  have  a  direct  conveyance  for  a  letter  hoinr 
1  — and  both  the  occasion  and  my  feelings  urge  me  to  write. 
c  I  have,  during1  my  long  residence  in  this  country,  had  few 
;  correspondents  of  a  truly  Christian  character,  and  even 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  375 

*  with  them,  have  not  cultivated  what  deserves  to  be  named 

*  a  Christian  correspondence.     And  I  have  been  a  great  suf- 

*  ferer  by  it,  in  that  interest  which  I,  in  common  with  my 
{ friends,    have    in    the    great    salvation    of   the    Son    of 
'  God.     Silence  and  concealment,  I  grant,  may  expose   a 
{  Christian  less  to  the  danger  of  a  feeling  of  self-important 
1  vanity,  and  that  odious  egotism  which  is  the  attendant  and 

*  mark  of  the  worst  sort  of  hypocrisy,  than  the  ostentation 

*  of  zeal  and  a  forward  profession.     But  they  may  be  carried 
1  too  far  and  proceeding  at  first  from  unaffected  modesty, 
'  come  at  last  to  arise  from  a  real  want  of  zeal  and  devotion 
'  in  the  cause  of  God.     And  there  are  times  in  which,  and 

*  persons  to  whom,  every  decided  Christian  may  and  ought 
1  to  signify  the  inward  and  true  state  of  his  mind,  in  regard 
'  to  the  great  warfare  carrying  on  between  Christ  and  his  ene- 
'  mies.     Is  it  enough  that  a  believer  enrol  his  name  once  in 
(  his  life  in  the  books  of  some  Christian  congregation — and 
:  so  he  spends  a  tolerably  correct  and  moral  life,  and  attend 
'  in  common  with  the  throng  of  Christian  professors  to  the 

*  external  offices  of  religion,  imagine  that  he  has  answered 
'  to  God  and  his  church,  and  to  his  own  soul,  the  great  ends 
{  of  his  high  vocation?     1  cannot  so  satisfy  my  conscience, 
'  however  my  life  may  have  disagreed  with  its  dictates.  And 
<  in  unbosoming  myself  with  some  degree  of  freedom,  to  one 
£  whom  I  know  not  to  be  disposed  to  judge  uncharitably  of 
1  the  motives  of  others,  I  have  my  own  advantage  chiefly  in 
(  view — and  some  slight  desires  to  honour  the  God  of  all  my 
1  mercies.     Yes,  my  Dear  Sir,  as  the  ancient  saints  superadd- 

*  ed  to  the  name  of  their  adorable  Jehovah  certain  titles  sug- 
{  gested  by  His  providential  dispensations  towards  themselves, 
'  I  would  thankfully  and  devoutly  record  His  name  as  the 
1  God  of  all  my  mercies.     It  was  a  dispensation  of  His  mer- 

*  cy  which  sent  me  to  Africa.     Of  this  I  am  more  sensible 
'  than  any  other  can  be.     And  all  computation  fails,  creduli- 
1  ty  and  faith  itself  are  confounded  in  tracing  out  the  good- 
1  ness  and  mercy  which  have  followed  me  through  all  the  ma- 


376  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

4  zes  of  sufferings,  labours,  perils,  sins,  follies,  and  infirmities 
< in  which  my  course  has  subsequently  laid.  The  greatest  of 
'  all  is,  that  I  am  not  abandoned  to  utter  insensibility  andim- 
1  penitence — that  I  am  not  without  an  honest  wish  to  spend 

<  every  moment  of  every  future  day  of  my  life,  in  His  service 

*  and  obedience — that  1  do  detest  my  former  sins,  and  present 
1  sinfulness,  as  far  as  I  can  discover  them— and  pray  for  still 
(  more  extensive  and  more  humbling  discoveries  of  my  cor- 
'  ruptions.     If  you  knew,  my  Dear  Sir,  how  much  I  have 
c  lived  under  the  influence  of  sinful  and  inordinate  passions, 
1  and  how  deeply  drunk  into  the  spirit  of  this  world,  since  1 

*  came  to  Africa,  you  would  --.think  the  strain,  a  bold  one  for 
1  me  to  use.     Perhaps  it  is  imprudently  so.     Indeed,  I  should 
'  be  unwilling  to  say  as  much  to  the-  members  of  my  own  fam- 

*  ily,  here.     But  God  is  my  witness  that  I  am  sincere  in  what 
1  I  write  you.     I  have  these  feelings,  and  pray  and  labour, 
1  that  they  may  remain,  and  increase,  and  overcome  all  the 
1  workings  of  sin  in  my  heart.     But  I  am  a  mere  child,  and 
'  an  exceedingly  dull,   perverse,  and  unhopeful  one,  in  all 

*  that  concerns  practical  godliness.     My  weakness  and  igno- 

*  ranee,  in  all  that  concerns  the  work  of  my  salvation,  and 
'  desperate    hardihood   in    the  contempt  of   Christ's  com- 
'  mands,  when  for  a  little  left  to  myself,  no  created  being 
(  knows.     But  I  have  not  a  thought  to  retire  from  the  great 
1  conflict,  'till  the  Spirit  of  God  and  the  power  of  Christ,  have 
1  given  me  the  victory  over  all.     It  is  my  unspeakable  conso- 

<  lation,  that  there  is  no  besetment — be  it  pride,  or  lust,  or  sloth, 
1  or  envy,  or  fear  of  man,  or  spiritual  cowardice, — which  the 
1  grace  of  God,  sought  by  prayer  in  Christ's  name,  cannot  de- 
1  liver  the  soul  from.     This  has  been  the  theme  of  my  medi- 
1  tation,  and  a  source   of  great  encouragement  to  me   this 
1  morning.     Where  sin  abounds,  O  that  desponding  believ- 
1  ers  might  all  see  that  grace  much  more  abounds,  and  that 
£  God,  when  He  devised  a  salvation  for  sinners,  adapted  it  to 
1  the  whole  extent  of  their  spiritual  maladies  and  dangers.  I 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

1  hope  to  make  it  a  chief  part  of  my  errand  home  to  derive  a 
<  little  strength  from  God's  blessing  on  the  intercourse  of  my 
'  Christian  friends.  I  shall  come  like  a  famished  wanderer,. 
*  as  I  am  in  more  senses  than  one,  from  the  fold  of  Christ.— 
1  Pray  that  it  may  be  with  a  teachable  and  humble  spirit:  For 
(  God  resists  the  proud,  and  gives  grace  only  to  the  humble. 
(  If  any  have  injured  me,  I  forgive  and  forget  it,  recollecting 
1  how  much  lam  myself  obliged  to  be  forgiven  by  our  com- 
1  mon  Master.  If  I  have  injured  others,  it  is  equally  my  prayer 
'  that  God  and  they  may  forgive  me.  My  Dear  Sir,  to  live 
'  for  eternity,  and  for  Christ,  we  shall  soon  find  to  be  our  true 
1  wisdom,  and  I  trust  are  both  old  enough  to  know  it  to  be  the 
1  only  life  worth  the  troubles  and  labours  of  mortality.  That 
1  we  may  so  live,  and  mutually  aid  each  other  by  our  exam- 
'  pie  and  our  prayers,  to  the  glory  of  our  common  Lord,  and 
1  the  eternal  advantage  of  the  numerous  immortals  under  our 
1  influence,  is  the  sincere  prayer  of  your  friend  and  servant, 

"J.  ASHMUN." 


CHAPTER    XVII. 


"THEY  shall  never  perish,"  were  the  memorable  words  of 
the  Son  of  God  speaking  of  the  final  destiny  of  His  faithful 
disciples.  The  subject  of  our  Memoir,  is  soon  to  prove  the 
value  of  this  promise,  for  he  has  passed  the  threshold  of  that 
year  in  which  he  must  die. 

On  the  1 5th  of  January,  1828,  arrived  at  Liberia,  the  brig 
Doris,  after  a  passage  of  sixty-one  days  from  Baltimore,  with 
one  hundred  and  seven  emigrants,  principally  from  Mary- 
land, sixty-two  of  them  liberated  slaves;  on  the  17th  of  the 
same  month,  the  schooner  Randolph  from  South  Carolina, 
with  twenty-six  Africans,  manumitted  by  a  single  individual; 
and  on  the  19th  of  February,  fifty-four  days  from  Hampton 
Roads,  the  brig  Nautilus,  with  one  hundred  and  sixty-four 
emigrants,  mostly  from  the  lower  counties  of  North  Carolina. 

Early  in  January,  Mr.  Ashmun  made  a  fatiguing  visit  of 
inspection,  to  the  Factories  south  of  Monrovia,  and  returning 
on  the  17th,  found  the  commanders  of  several  vessels  waiting 
to  settle  concerns  of  business,  and  hasten  their  departure. — 


• 

LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

Tire  Doris  came  to  anchor  the  same  evening.  This  was  the 
sixth  vessel — the  affairs  .of  which  demanded  consideration. 
"  Such  an  accumulation  of  labour,"  he  observes,  "I  never  felt 
•*  pressing  on  me  before.  Days  and  nights- were  too  short. — 
*  But  I  despatched  previous  to  the  25th,  three  of  the  vessels, 
*•  when  another  arrived  from  Sierra  Leone,  with  special 
•*  claims  on  my  attention."  A  piratical  arid  strongly  armed 
Spanish  vessel  now  menaced-  the  settlement  with  an  attack 
at  night,  and  until  a  late  hour,  Mr.  Ashmun  exposed  himself 
in  arduous  efforts  for  its  defence.  Immediately  after,  on  the 
receipt  of  a  proposal  from  the  Dey  chiefs  on  the  St.  Paul's, 
for  opening  a  way  for  trade  into  the  interior,  on  condition  of 
the  establishment  of  a  settlement  at  the  head  of  navigation, 
on  that  river,  he  visited  all  the  intermediate  kings  on  both 
sides  of  the  river,  and  was  occupied  for  three  days  and  nights 
in  negotiations,  terminating  in  the  conclusion  that  a  number 
of  the  Colonists  should  occupy,  without  delay,  the  beautiful 
tract  of  country  now  bearing  the  honoured  names  of  Mills 
and  Burgess.  For  the  four  next  successive  days  he  was  en- 
gaged in  a  difficult  judicial  investigation.  The  duty  of  as- 
signing, to  the  company  of  emigrants  just  arrived,  their  lands 
was  then  discharged,  followed  immediately  by  a  laborious 
session  of  the  Court,  for  two  days.  Even  after  he  felt  his 
strength  sinking,  his  exertions  were  unremitted,  until  seized  by 
a  raging  fever  on  the  5th  of  February,  under  the  power  of 
which,  up  to  the  21st  of  that  month,  he  was  (to  use  his  own 
words)  "tossing  on  the  brink  of  eternity."  The  daily  inter- 
vals of  reason  with  which,  subsequently,  he  was  favoured, 
were  employed  in  giving  instructions  to  those  who  were  en- 
trusted, during  his  illness,  with  the  general  management  of 
affairs. 

To  add  to  his  distress,  the  emigrants  by  the  Doris  were 
heavily  afflicted;  the  season  was  unhealthy,  their  passage  had 
been  nearly  twice  the  usual  length,  and  in  the  case  of  twenty- 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  383 

four  from  Maryland,  the  disease  baffled  all  the  medical  skill 
•existing  in  the  Colony.* 

On  the  25th  of  February,  he  was  able  to  write  to  the 
Board  and  state  the  circumstances  of  the  new-comers  and 
his  own  situation.  "For  the  last  four  days,"  he  remarks, 
41  my  strength  has  returned  almost  as  rapidly  as  it  went.  But 

*  I  hope  the  event  will  advertise  the  Board,  that  the  constitu- 
( tion  of  their  Agent,  here,  is  not  to  be  depended  on — and 
'  that  a  most  probable  item  of  intelligence  may  very  shortly 
1  be,  that  he  too,  is  numbered  with  the  departed.     May  pro- 
'  vision  be  made  accordingly.     For  myself,  alone,  the  event 
'  has  no  appalling  features — but  to  leave  the  Colony — to  quit 
1  a  field  of  labour  forever,  in  which  so  little  is  yet  done  and  so 
i  much  ought  to  be  done — here,  I  fear,  will  be  the  distressing 

*  pang  of  dying.     But  the  Colony  depends,  I  am  persuaded, 
1  on  the  life  of  no  one  or  ten  individuals;  and  it  is  a  vanity, 

*  I  do  not  indulge,  that  it  has  any  such  dependence  on  my 
'  own.     But  it  is  a  field  of  labour,  in  which,  if  better  work- 
'  men  are  not  employed,  I  wish  to  be  myself,  so  long  as,  with 
1  the  Divine  blessing,  I  can  do  any  good." 

Though  his  weakness  would  have  exempted  him,  in 
the  opinion  of  all  except  himself,  from  the  obligations  of 
official  duty,  he  failed  not  to  express  to  the  Managers,  his 
thoughts  on  one  or  two  points  of  essential  concern  to  the 
Colony.  He  insisted  that  for  at  least  two  years  to  come,  a 
more  discriminating  selection  of  settlers  must  be  made,  than 
ever  had  been,  even  in  the  earliest  expeditions,  or  the  pros- 
perity of  the  Colony  must  inevitably  and  rapidly  decline.f 

*  The  emigrants  by  the  Randolph  and  Nautilus,  suffered  slightly.  Of  the 
one  hundred  and  seven  by  the  Doris,  twenty-four  died,  all  from  the  north  of 
the  Potomac.  ''Draw  a  line  due  east  and  west,"  paid  Mr.  Ashmun,  "across 
Elk  Ridge,  Maryland,  and  not  a  deatli  has  invaded  the  people  from  the  south 
of  it." 

f  He  was  of  opinion  that,  at  the  end  of  that  time,  (to  use  his  own  words) 
"a  healthy  proportion  of  working  and  idle  people,  would  be  found  there,"  and 
that  the  coloured  population  taken  up  just  as  they  are,  might  be  introduced, 
and,  under  good  management,  not  be  found  to  be  a  burthen. 


384  LIFE    OP   ASHMUN. 

On  the  25th  of  March,  having  received  a  written  opinion 
from  his  Physician,  that  his  return  to  the  United  States  offer- 
ed the  only  hope  of  his  recovery,  escorted  by  the  military, 
and  accompanied  by  a  large  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Monrovia  in  tears,  to  whom  he  spoke  affectionately,  but  brief- 
ly, he  went  on  board  the  brig  Doris,  and  with  the  feelings 
which  seek  despairingly  for  expression,  through  the  eyes  of 
the  dying,  in  their  last,  fixed  look  upon  an  object  which  the 
heart  holds  fast  to  its  last  moment,  left  Africa  forever.* 

During  a  passage  of  forty-seven  days  to  St.  Bartholemews, 
in  the  West  Indies,  his  sufferings  were  nearly  indescribable, 
and  for  two  weeks  he  indulged  but  a  faint  hope,  of  ever  again 
seeing  land. 

Again  he  observes:  "if  rice  grew  spontaneously,  and  covered  the  country, 
yet  it  is  possible  by  sending  few  or  none  able  to  reap  and  clean  it,  to  starve 
ten  thousand  helpless  children  and  infirm  old  people  in  the  midst  of  so  much 
plenty.  Rice  does  not  grow  spontaneously,  however;  nor  can  any  thing  ne- 
cessary for  the  subsistence  of  the  human  species,  be  procured  here  without 
the  sweat  of  the  brow.  Clothing,  tools,  and  building  materials,  are  much 
dearer  here  than  in  America.  But  send  out  your  emigrants,  laborious  men 
and  their  familias  only — or  laborious  men  and  their  families,  accompanied 
with  only  their  natural  proportion  of  ineificients;  and  with  the  ordinary  bless- 
ing of  God,  you  may  depend  on  their  causing  you  a  light  expense  in  Liberia, 
and  fixing  themselves  speedily  and  easily  in  comfortable  and  independent 
circumstances.  I  further  think  I  may  safely  say,  that  in  no  new  country  in 
the  world,  would  they  be  likely  to  meet  with  so  many  advantages,  and  find  it 
so  easy  to  get  in  a  way  of  comfortable  living,  by  their  own  moderate  industry." 

"I  know  that  nothing  is  effectually  done,  in  colonizing  this  country,  till  the 
Colony's  own  resources  can  sustain  its  own  and  a  considerable  annual  increase 
of  population.  To  this  point,  it  has  been  my  great  anxiety  to  bring  it;  and 
adopting  and  persisting  in  the  course  I  have  recommended,  I  am  certain  the 
Board  will  see  it  soon  reach  this  point." 

*  "Never,  I  suppose,  were  greater  tokens  of  respect  shown  by  any  commu- 
nity on  taking  leave  of  their  head.  Nearly  the  whole  (at  least  two-thirds)  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Monrovia,  men,  women  and  children,  were  out  on  this  oc- 
casion, and  nearly  all  parted  from  him  in  tears,  and,  in  iny  opinion,  the  hope 
of  his  return  in  a  few  months,  alone  enabled  them  to  give  him  up.  He  is  in- 
deed dear  to  this  people,  and  it  will  be  a  joyful  day  when  we  are  permitted 
again  to  see  him.  He  has  left  a  written  address  containing  valuable  admoni- 
tions to  officers,  civil,  military  and  religious." — L.  GARY. 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  385 

On  the  10th  of  May,  the  day  after  his  arrival  at  that 
Island,  he  wrote  to  the  Board:  "I  am  now  in  the  hands 

*  of  a  Physician  of  the  Island,  who  has  the  reputation  of  being 
{  skilful — and  with  whom  it  will  be  necessary  for  me  to  re- 

*  main — I  hope  not  many  days — but  God  knows,  and  I  am 
c  submissive.     I  was  enabled  to  arrange  the  concerns  of  the 
'  Colony  with  Mr.  Gary,  even  to  the  minutest  particulars;  and 
1 1  have  the  greatest  confidence  that  his  administration  will 
'  prove  satisfactory,  in  a  high  degree,  to  the  Board  and  advan- 
'  tageous  to  the  Colony."* 

It  was  soon  decided,  that  to  proceed  home  in  the  Doris, 
would,  in  all  probability,  either  hasten  his  complicated  mala- 
dies to  a  fatal  termination,  or  render  them  incurable. 

He  saw  the  Doris  sail  without  him,  and  with  quiet  resigna- 
tion to  the  Divine  will,  awaited  the  consequences  of  a  mild 
and  gradual  course  (the  only  one  his  system  could  endure)  of 
medical  treatment. 

For  a  few  days,  his  spirits  revived;  he  wrote  to 
the  Society,  and  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  on  matters 
of  business,  and  derived  pleasure  from  intercourse  with  a  few 
intelligent  individuals  kindly  solicitous  to  relieve  his  suffer- 
ings, as  well  as  from  the  refreshing  and  delightful  scenery  of 

*  Mr.  Ashmun's  instructions  to  Mr.  Gary  are  very  full  and  interesting. — 
"The  first  grand  object,"  he  remarks,  "for  the  next  six  months,  doubtless  is, 
to  see  every  man  and  every  working  family  now  in  charge,  placed  on  their 
lands,  and  supported  no  longer,  even  in  part,  at  the  public  expense. 

"To  effect  this  object,  they  must  be  furnished  with  a  few  simple  tools — to 
pay  for  them  if  they  can — if  not,  to  receive  them  gratuitously.  Their  allow- 
ance must  be  withheld  if  they  neglect  or  negligently  follow  the  improvement 
of  their  lands,  and  the  building  of  their  houses.  Much  may  be  done,  by  visit- 
ing the  people  separate!/,  getting  at  their  intentions  and  circumstances,  and 
spurring,  advising,  or  reproving  as  they  may  require.  I  am  persuaded  it  will 
be  useful,  and  in  most  instances  possible  to  get,  at  least  all  the  men  out  of  the 
public  receptacles,  and  on  their  lands,  before  the  rains  set  in."  He  then  gives 
very  particular  instructions  in  regard  to  the  buildings  belonging  to  the  U.  States 
— buildings  belonging  to  the  Colony— the  arms  and  armament,  water  craft,  farm 
andpublic  garden;  printing  establishment,  forts,  public  servants,  Millsburg  settle- 
ment, finances,  4rc.  #c. 


386  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

the  Island.     From  this  place,  on  the  12th  of  May,  he  address- 
ed the  following  letter  to  his  parents: — 

11  Mi/  Dear  Parents: — I  am  so  far  on  my  return  towards 
( the  United  States — and  fifty  days — a  very  long  passage  from 
(  Liberia.  I  left  there  March  25th,  compelled,  I  am  sorry  to 
1  say,  by  bad  health — having  suffered  from  a  severe  fever  in 
'  February  such  a  loss  of  strength,  and  derangement  of  the 
'  system,  as  my  Physician  said  could  not  be  repaired  without 
'  a  change  of  climate.  I  am  yet  quite  low — but  in  the  hands 
1  of  a  good  Physician,  and  at  the  house  of  a  kind  and  affec- 
1  donate  American  lady — who  more  than  most  women,  re- 
'  minds  me  of  my  own  mother.  I  have,  too,  my  own  boy 
1  Cecil  along,  and  assure  you,  I  could  no  where  be  better  at- 
'  tended  or  nursed.  I  am,  besides,  attended,  I  gratefully  trust, 

*  by  the  great  Comforter,  whose  presence  is  health  and  life  to 

*  the  soul,  let  the  body  sicken,  suffer,  and  even  die.     Pray  for 
'  me,  but  give  yourselves  no  needless  anxiety.     I  may  recov- 
1  er  and  be  in  Champlain  before  the  end  of  July.     My  Doctor 
c  says  my  case  must  yield  to  his  medicines.     True,  it  is  more 
1 than  he  knows,  but  I  cannot  contradict,  and  partially  be- 
1  lieve  him.     I  cannot  walk  much.     But  I  keep  up  most  of 
(  my  time,  and  since  1  came  on  shore,  have  suffered  little  pain. 
1  Remember  me  to  the  family  and  my  former  acquaintances, 
'  and  the  blessed  Redeemer  remember  us  all. 

Your  dutiful  Son, 

"J.    ASHMUN." 

He  commenced  a  Journal  of  his  observations,  which  com- 
prises many  facts  in  regard  to  the  Government,  commerce, 
productions  and  agriculture  of  this  portion  of  the  W.  Indies. 

He  soon  proceeded  from  St.  BartholemWs  to  Basseterre 
in  the  Island  of  St.  Christophers,  but  suffered  from  the  fatigue 
and  exposure  of  the  passage,  which  though  of  less  than  twen- 
ty-four hours,  was  accomplished  partly  by  land  and  in  the 
night. 

For  a  day  or  two  he  was  extremely  low;  but  on  the  6th  of 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  387 

June,  he  was  able  to  write  to  a  lady  (herself  an  invalid)  in 
St.  Bartholomews,  in  whose  family  he  had  received  the  kind- 
est attention:  "I  have  enjoyed,"  he  remarks,  "a  most  pleasant 

*  season  in  this  delightful  Island,  and  am  pleased  to  state  that 

*  my  health  seems  to  be  very  constantly  but  very  slowly  im- 
4  proving.   I  have  often  thought  that  if  Mrs.  Doyle  were  with 

*  me,  in  some  of  my  morning  and  evening  rides,  it  might, 
1  with  God's  blessing,  be  the  same  with  her. 

"I  am  delighted  to  find  the  people  of  this  Island,  kind  and 
1  attentive;  but  nothing  can  exceed  the  kindness  and  attention 

*  I  have  received  in  your  family — to  which  I  shall  always 
1  attribute,  in  a  great  measure,  the  recovery  of  my  health, 
<  should  it  pleasu  God  to  restore  it." 

He  gives  in  a  few  notes,  on  St.  Christophers,  a  general  view 
of  its  population,  commerce,  agriculture  and  religion.  The 
condition  of  the  slaves  was  investigated,  and  he  accounts  for 
the  decrease  of  their  numbers  by  their  being  overworked, 
scantily  fed  and  badly  lodged.  "Slaves,"  he  observes,  "are 
'  treated  well  here,  comparatively.  But  scarcely  any  where 
f  on  earth,  do  they  fare  as  well  as  free  labourers:  and  there 

*  is  something  so  unnatural  in  compulsory  labour,  that  even 

*  a  light  daily  task  imposed  by  force,  weighs  down  the  strength 
4  and  spirits  more,  and  is  truly  a  greater  hardship,  than  four 
1  times  the  same  task  voluntarily  performed." 

On  the  9th  of  June,  he  informed  the  Society  of  his  increas- 
ed illness,  and  that  but  for  the  attention  of  kind  friends, 
raised  up  by  the  goodness  of  Providence  for  his  relief,  he 
should  probably  before  that  time,  have  sunk  under  their 
weight.  He  adds: 

"Resigning  my  individual  self  and  interest  to  the  disposal. 
{  of  the  same  Divine  goodness,  I  earnestly  beg  that  the  Go- 
4  vernment  of  the  Colony  may  immediately,  and  permanent- 
1  ly,  be  provided  for.  In  the  choice  of  a  successor,  it  is  im- 

*  possible  for  me  to  express  my  anxiety,  that  wisdom  from  on 

4  high,  may  inspire  and  direct  the  counsels  of  the  Board. — 

49 


388  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

'  Accept,  my  Dear  Sir,  for  yourself,  and  convey  to  all  the" 
'  members  of  the  Board,  this  fresh,  and  sincerest  assurance 
c  of  the  highest  personal  esteem  and  affection,  and  of  the  en- 
'  tire  satis(action;  with  which,  I  at  this  moment  contemplate 
'  the  best  part  of  an  active  life  spent  in  their  service." 

He  found  among  strangers  the  kindness  of  friends,  and  by 
their  attentions  and  good  medical  advice,  he  was  so  far 
strengthened  as  to  take  passage  for  New  Haven  on  the  l(5th 
of  July,  at  which  port  he  arrived,  after  a  long  passage,  on  the 
10th  of  August.  The  following  prayer,  found  in  his  pocket- 
book,  was  probably  composed  about  this  time.  It  is  marked 
number  one,  and  was  designed,  doubtless,  to  be  the  first  of  a 
series  of  humble  confessions  and  supplications  to  the  great 
Father  of  life  and  mercies,  to  whom  only,  he  now  felt  that  he 
could  look  for  help,  and  in  whom  alone,  in  the  extremity  of 
nature,  find  refuge  for  his  soul; 

Prayer  against  hardness  of  Heart  and  Unbelief. 

"O  heart-searching  and  rein-trying  God,   who  requirest 

4  truth  in  the  in  ward  parts,  a  broken  heart,  and  spiritual  wor- 

'  ship  of  all  who  seek  to  please  and  serve  thee;  mercifully 

'  behold  me  lying  in  this  wretched  condition  of  alienation 

1  from  thee,  and  from  all  the  tokens  of  thy  love  and  favourr 

1  through  spiritual  death,  and  the  prevalence  of  unbelief.— 

Known  unto  thee  is  the  extent  of  my  backsliding,  and  the 

darkness,  insensibility  and  strong  hostility  of  my  heart,  in 

1  regard  to  all  thy  spiritual  and  holy  precepts.     Vain  is  the 

1  attempt  to  soften  so.  hard  a  nature,  and  to  convert  affections 

1  so  estranged,  and  so  nearly  extinct,  by  any  resolutions  and 

1  endeavours  of  my  own.    Vain  are  all  the  preparatory  means 

1  and  helps,  to  which  my  indolence  seeks  recourse,  either  to 

1  abate  the  force  of  the  mortal  disease,  or  even  heartily  to  dis- 

*  pose  me  to  return,  and  seek  help  of  thee.     Thou  know- 

'  est,  my  God,  that  notwithstanding  my  former  public  profes- 

4  sion  of  thy  faith,  and  exercise  of  the  Christian  ministry, 


LIFE    OF    ASH M UN.  389 

*  that  my  present  hope  is  little  or  nothing  better  than  a  bold 
1  presumption;  and  that  little  else  remains,  except  a  fearful 
1  looking  for  of  judgment,  and  fiery  indignation  at  thy  hands. 
c  I  am  in  terrifying  doubt,  that  my  unbelief  and  hardness  of 
'  heart,  have  even  now  the  seal  of  thy  judicial  dereliction. — 
1  But,  merciful  God,  I  have  heard  much,  and  tasted  often  and 
'  sweetly  of  thy  divine  compassion  and  goodness.     No  sin- 
1  ner  is  delivered  from  the  curse  of  thy  law,  for  his  own  in- 
1  nocence,  or  good  works,  good  endeavours,  or  good  resolu- 
'  tions — but  through  thy  sovereign  grace  and  rnercy  abound- 
( ing  in  Jesus  Christ  thy  Son.     I  have  in  vain  made  trial  of 
1  my  own  powers,  in  every  way  which  the  wisdom  of  the  car- 
1  nal  mind  suggests,  and  confess  my  utter  impotency.     My 
'  heart  becomes  daily  harder — my  affections  daily  more  em- 
1  bittered  against  the  holiness  of  thy  nature,  and  the  purity 
1  of  thy  law.     Even  my  complaints  are  insincere — and  the 
1  language  of  my  confessions  stronger  than  the  feeling  of 
1  my  miserable  and  dangerous  malady.    And  in  this  extremi- 
(  ty — thus  lamely  and  indolently — thus  insincerely  and  irre- 
(  solutely,  I  essay  to  apply  to  Thee,  the  free,  and  abundant, 
{  and  only  source  of  spiritual  influences,   and  Author,  and 
{  finisher  of  faith.     May  thy  word  and  spirit  break  and  sub 

'  due  effectually,  my  hard,  unbelieving  heart.  And  may  the 
{ same  power  which  breaks  and  melts,  be  evermore  present 
'  to  preserve  my  soul  in  a  broken  and  contrite  frame.  O 
{  keep  my  heart  like  fresh-tilled  soil,  forever,  that  it  may 

*  drink  freely  the  gentlest  dews   of  heaven;  receive  kindly 
1  and  deeply,  every  good  seed  of  thy  word,  and  bring  forth  a 
1  speedy  and  abundant  return  of  mature  and  precious  fruits. 
4  May  the  benefit  be  mine,  and  my  fellow-creatures':  but  the 
{  glory  all  redound  to  thy  free  salvation,  as  established,  com 

1  municated  and  perfectly  wrought  by  the  glorious  and  un 
1  divided  God,  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit — to  whom  be 

*  praise,  dominion  and  glory,  now  and  forever.    Amen.5' 

The  sweet  prospect  of  his  native  land,  the  anticipated  joy 


390 


LIFE    OP    ASH M UN. 


of  an  interview  with  his  friends,  the  anxious  kindness  oi  th* 
citizens  of  New  Haven,  the  efforts  of  skilful  Physicians  in- 
tent on  saving  a  life  dear  to  humanity  and  religion,  and  which 
had  been  willingly  hazarded  amid  a  thousand  dangers  in 
their  cause,  inspired  him  with  transient  energy,  and  lighted 
up,  for  a  day  or  two,  a  trembling  hope  of  his  recovery. 

In  a  letter  to  a  friend  at  Washington,  dated  on  the  12th 
of  August,  after  stating  "that  without  speedy  relief,  the  little 
1  remaining  strength  he  had,  must  give  way,  and  death  be 
'  the  consequence,"  he  adds:  "You  will  naturally  inquire, 

*  with  what  feelings,  I  contemplate  the  prospect  before  me? 

*  I  can  only  reply  in  general,  that  my  mind  has  so  far  been 
1  preserved  under  the  nearest  and  most  solemn  views  of 
{  death  it  has  yet  taken,  from  all  distressing  agitation  and 

*  alarm;  my  confidence  in  the  great  Christian  foundation  is 
1  steadfast  and  unshaken — but  am  I  building  on  this  founda- 

*  tion?     This  inquiry  forms  the  theme  of  my  most  anxious 
1  solicitude  and  fervent  prayers;  and  I  am  thankful  to  the 
'  Author  of  all  grace,  that  the  evidence  of  my  personal  inter- 

*  estinthe  Redeemer,  occasionally  shines  forth  withconsid- 
'  erable  clearness;    so   that  hope,  more  precious  than  the 
'  treasures  of  the  world,  commonly  prevails  against  my  fears,. 
(  my  doubts  and  my  sins.     If  1  had  no  more  to  repent  of  than 
1  most  people,  I  should  have  more  confidence  in  the  sincerity 

*  of  my  repentance;  but  ranking,  as  I  do,  among  the  chief  of 
1  sinners,  I  have  only  to  trust  the  more  to  the  Saviour's  mer- 
1  its,  and  I  can  find  occasionally,  even  hope  and  consolation 
1  in  this  act  of  faith  and  confidence." 

But  the  time  of  his  departure  was  at  hand.  To  a  friend 
who  called  on  him  soon  after  his  arrival,  he  said,  "I  have 
come  here  to  die." 

He  then  expressed  a  deep  sense  of  his  guilt  as  a  sinner, 
and  a  want  of  those  spiritual  consolations  he  desired.  A  day 
or  two  afterwards,  to  the  same  friend,  he  said,  "I  have  been 
praying  for  light,  and  a  little  light  has  come,  cheering  and  re- 


LIFE    OB'    ASHMUN, 


391 


freshing  beyond  expression."  Requesting  the  prayers  of  the 
congregation,  he  said,  "I  have  a  desire  to  recover,  but  I  do 
'  not  wish  that  to  be  the  burthen  of  the  prayer.  Let  it  be  that 

*  I  may  acquiesce  entirely  in  the  will  of  God  and  have  com- 

*  munion  with  God.     I  wish  the  Colony  to  be  remembered;" 
and  as  he  spoke  these  words,  he  wept.     "Excuse  my  weak- 
ness," said  he,  "there  are  many  good  people  there,  and  they 
(  are  so  dear,  that  when  I  think  of  seeing  them  no  more,  my 
1  feelings  are  too  strong."     From  this  time,  he  declined  ra- 
pidly, but  gently;   peace  was  in  his  soul,  and  on  his  aspect 
some  rays  of  light  from  the  world  he  was  so  soon  to  enter. — 
It  was  the  writer's  privilege  to  watch  beside  him  during  the 
last  twenty-four  hours  of  his  life. 

At  this  season,  when  the  soul  looks  forth  in  helplessness 
from  its  falling  tabernacle  which  it  must  quit  forever,  for  an  ex- 
istence untried  and  the  scenes  invisible  of  eternity,  the  subject 
of  this  Memoir  was  unappalled.  It  was  not  forgetfulness, 
nor  self-confidence,  nor  insensibility  which  made  his  spirit 
calm  as  the  clear  waters,  that  in  some  hour  of  nature's  deep 
repose,  reflect  untremulously  the  beauty  and  magnificence  of 
Heaven.  He  had  cast  himself  upon  the  greatness  of  His 
strength  who  is  mighty  to  save.  Persuaded  "that  it  was  a 
faithful  saying  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus 
came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  and  that  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  in  Him,  shall  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life,"  he 
penitently  and  joyfully  trusted  in  these  Divine  words,  while 
he  saw  the  hand  of  death  ready  to  lift  the  mysterious  curtain, 
and  conduct  him  to  the  presence  of  his  final  Judge. 

The  softest  expressions  of  human  praise,  or  even  of  approba- 
tion, fell  like  discords  on  his  ear;  and  one  who  alluded  to  his 
services  in  the  African  cause,  was  checked  by  the  remark,  "I 
am  a  dying  man,  and  desire  that  alone  which  is  suited  to  my 
situation — I  know  of  no  such  thing  as  self-righteousness — I 
can  rely  only  upon  the  righteousness  of  Christ."  Resigna- 
tion, devotion,  humility,  and  charity,  so  long  the  growing 


392  LIFE    OF    ASHMUN. 

habits  of  his    life,  shone  forth  almost  in  perfection,  near  its 
close. 

In  weakness,  in  pain,  he  often  forgot  himself,  but 
duty  NEVER.  His  last  day  was  spent  not  in  complaints 
— not  in  anxious  efforts  to  prolong  life — not  in  vain 
wishes  to  see  once  again,  if  but  for  an  hour,  the  faces 
of  his  parents — to  catch,  were  it  but  a  word,  from  lips  often 
pressed  to  his,  in  affection;  but  in  active  duty,  as  a  faithful 
servant  watches  with  trimmed  and  burning  lamp,  the  coming 
of  his  Lord.  He  dictated  a  letter  on  business,  and  signed  it 
with  his  own  hand.  He  expressed,  earnestly,  his  thoughts 
and  desires  concerning  the  Colony.  Observing  an  at- 
tendant, moved  by  his  sufferings,  in  the  spirit  of  Him  who, 
on  his  way  to  the  cross,  said  to  the  sympathizing  daughters 
of  Jerusalem,  weep  not  for  me,  but  weep  for  yourselves,  he 
exhorted  him  to  consider,  and  prepare  for  his  own  death. — 
Assisted  to  sit  up,  that  he  might  thus  better  endure  one  of 
those  paroxysms  in  which  life  seemed  contending  unequally 
with  death,  his  little  African  boy  standing  in  tears  by  his 
side,  he  offered  his  last  prayer;  that  his  faith  might  not  fail 
under  the  weight  of  his  affliction;  that  those  whose  kindness 
he  was  experiencing,  and  that  his  relatives  and  friends 
might  never  come  into  condemnation;  and  that  the  poor  peo- 
ple among  whom  he  had  laboured,  might  ever  enjoy  the 
blessing  of  that  Almighty  Being,  to  whom,  in  this  awful  cri- 
sis of  his  existence,  he  was  confiding  the  everlasting  interests 
of  his  soul. 

He  arranged,  minutely,  his  worldly  affairs, — bequeathing* 
of  his  small  property,  a  large  share  to  the  cause  of  Missions  in 
Africa.  A  sum  of  money  in  his  hands  was  counted  and 
delivered  to  a  friend  by  himself. 

It  is  evening — the  sun  has  already  gone  down  that  shall 
rise  for  him  no  more. 

A  few  individuals  gather  in  sorrow  around  his  bed.— 
But  sorrow  cannot  stay  there.  It  is  not  for  them  to  give 


LIFE    OF    ASH M UN'.  393 

but  to  receive  consolation.  Their  tears  are  those  only  of 
admiration  and  love.  Cheerful  words  are  on  the  lips  of  the 
dying,  his  eye  kindles  with  the  spirit,  his  countenance  beams 
with  the  smile  of  immortality.  The  faithful,  the  toil-worn, 
the  victorious  soldier,  is  going  from  the  field  of  his  conflict, 
and  his  fame,  to  his  long  repose.  He  is  not  alone.  The  con- 
queror of  death  conducts  him  to  the  eternal  honours  of  his 
kingdom. 

"Pretiosa  mors  sanctorum,  pretiosa  plane  tanquam  finis  la- 
borum,  tanquam  victorias  consummatio,  tanquam  vitse  Jan- 
uae,  et  perfectse  securitatis  ingressus."* 

He  expired  gently,  and  in  a  moment,  on  the  evening  of  the 
25th  of  August,  1828,  in  the  thirty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 

On  the  next  day,  a  large  concourse  of  the  citizens  of  New 
Haven,  and  of  the  neighbouring  towns,  united  in  a  solemn 
tribute  of  respect  to  his  memory,  and  attended  his  remains 
to  the  grave.  The  assembly  had  already  filled  the  Central 
Church,  to  which  the  body  of  the  deceased  was  conveyed,  and 
the  Minister  of  Christ  just  concluded  his  humble  supplica- 
tions to  the  God  of  all  mercy  and  consolation,  when  a  venera- 
ble, solitary  female,  entered  the  congregation,  and  with  a  look 
which  told  what  her  tongue  might  in  vain  have  essayed  to 
speak,  approached  the  corpse.  It  was  the  mother  of  Ashmun  ! 
Every  heart  in  that  vast  assembly  beat  fainter,  as  they  beheld 
this  aged  matron,  who  had  travelled  for  several  days  and 
nights  from  a  remote  part  of  the  country,  in  the  hope  of  em- 
bracing her  living  son,  pressing  her  lips  and  her  heart  upon 
the  coffin  which  concealed  all  that  remained  of  that  son  in 
death,  forever  from  her  sight.f 

*  "Precious  is  the  death  of  saints— precious  as  the  end  of  their  labours,  the 
consummation  of  their  victory,  the  gate  of  life  and  entrance  into  perfect  se- 
curity." 

f  The  warmth  of  the  season  rendered  it  imprudent  to  open  the  coffin — a 
circumstance  painful  at  the  time — but  which  left  uneff'aced  in  the  memory 
of  the  venerable  parent  of  Ashmun,  those  pleasing  ideas  of  her  son,  which 
his  early  manry  beauty  had  impressed  upon  it. 


394  LIFE   OP    ASHMUN. 

The  Discourse  of  the  Rev.  Leonard  Bacon,  on  this  occa- 
sion, (which  has  been  given  to  the  public)  was  a  just  and 
eloquent  defence  of  the  spirit,  that  animates  the  martyrs  to  a 
great  and  good  cause,  and  under  the  power  of  which,  Ash- 
mun  had  sacrificed  his  life  in  the  service  of  Africa.  "His  ex- 
ample (said  the  preacher)  shall  speak." 

"There  have  been  men  whose  names  are  way-marks; 
whose  examples,  through  successive  ages,  stir  the  spirits  of 
their  fellow-men  with  noble  emulation.  What  has  been  done 
for  God,  and  for  the  souls  of  men,  and  for  the  cause  of  wretch- 
ed human  nature,  by  the  luster  which  gathers  around  the 
name  of  DAVID  BRAINERD.  How  many  lofty  spirits  has  the 
simple  history  ot  his  toils  and  sorrows  kindled  and  roused  to 
kindred  enterprise.  Other  names  there  are,  which  beam 
from  age  to  age  with  the  same  glory.  HOWARD,  CLARKSON, 
SWARTZ,  MILLS, — what  meaning  is  there  in  such  names  as 
these.  Our  departed  friend  will  add  another  to  that  brilliant 
catalogue.  He  takes  his  place 

"  Amid  th'  august  and  never  dying  light 

Of  constellated  spirits  who  have  gained 

A  name  in  heaven  by  power  of  heavenly  deeds." 

"Let  us  praise  God  for  the  light  of  his  example,  which  shall 
never  be  extinguished,  and  which,  as  it  beams  on  us,  shall 
also  beam  on  our  children,  and  our  children's  children,  mov- 
ing them  to  deeds  of  godlike  benevolence." 

"  Praise  !  for  yet  one  more  name  with  power  endowed. 

To  cheer  and  guide  us,  onward  as  we  press ; 
Yet  one  more  image,  on  the  heart  bestowed, 

To  dwell  there,  beautiful  in  holiness." 

We  have  come  to  his  grave.  A  simple,  but  beautiful  mon- 
ument erected  by  the  Managers  of  the  American  Colonization 
Society,  in  the  church-yard  of  New  Haven,  (a  spot  which  na 
ture  has  made  lovely,  and  which  affection  and  piety  have 
planted  with  trees  and  flowers,  as  if  anxious  to  throw  a  charm 
tnd  fragrance  around  the  resting-places  of  the  dead,)  bears 


LIFE    OF    ASHMUN.  395 

the  name  of  ASHMUN.  This  monument  may  perish,  but 
that  name  never.  It  is  engraven  on  the  heart  of  Africa. 

In  his  person,  Mr.  Ashmun  was  tall — his  hair  and  eyes 
light — his  features  regular  and  cast  in  the  finest  mould — his 
manners  mild,  yet  dignified — and  in  his  countenance  an  ex- 
pression of  the  gentlest  affections  softened  the  lineaments  of 
a  lofty,  firm,  and  fearless  mind. 

He  early  saw  the  truth  and  felt  the  power  of  the  Christian 
Religion.  Its  principles  were  ever  living  and  active  in 
his  soul.  The  passions  of  youth  might  war  against  them — 
in  the  conflict  with  temptation,  they  might  seem,  for  a  mo- 
ment, giving  way;  but  they  were  indestructible — of  the  seed 
of  God  that  liveth  and  abideth  forever. 

In  grief,  and  temptation,  and  reproach — in  want,  and  dan- 
ger, and  pain — when  so  cast  down  by  affliction,  that  his  soul 
became  weary  of  life,  he  acknowledged  himself  under 
the  discipline  of  the  Almighty;  he  praised  the  name 
of  God  with  a  song,  and  magnified  it  with  thanksgiving, — 
While,  with  David,  he  remembered  the  works  of  God  and 
his  wonders  of  old,  his  troubled  thoughts  were  soothed,  and 
he  exclaimed,  "Why  art  thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul?  Why 
art  thou  disquieted  within  me?  Hope  thou  in  God;  for  I  shall 
yet  praise  Him,  who  is  the  health  of  my  countenance  and 
my  God."  Strengthened  by  the  consolations  of  God,  his  spirit 
rose  towards  the  innumerable  company  of  just  men  made 
perfect,  who  once  in  tribulation  like  his,  now  stand  inaccessi- 
ble to  misery  or  to  danger,  on  the  "mountains  of  glory,"  and 
seem  to  bend  upon  him  looks  of  tenderness  and  love. 

"Such  is  the  power  of  dispensing  blessings  which  Provi- 
dence has  attached  to  the  truly  great  and  good,  that  they 
cannot  even  die  without  advantage  to  their  fellow-creatures; 
for  death  consecrates  their  example;  and  the  wisdom  which 
might  have  been  slighted  at  the  council  table,  becomes  oracu- 
lar at  the  shrine.  Those  rare  excellencies,  which  make  our, 

50 


APPENDIX. 


No.  1. 
Extracts  from  the  early  Diary  of  Ashmun. 

THESE  extracts  comprise  but  a  small  portion  of  the  Journal  of 
Mr.  Ashraun,  while  preparing  for  college,  and  during  his  college 
life.  They  will  serve  to  show,  however,  much  of  his  early  char- 
acter, the  depth  and  sincerity  of  his  piety,  the  burning  ardor  of 
his  zeal,  and  his  aspiring  resolution  in  the  cause  of  Religion. 

November  27,  1810.— Having  at  this  time  a  term  of  leisure,  and  for  want  of 
suitable  opportunity  having  heretofore  neglected  it,  I  shall  attempt  an  imper- 
fect detail  of  the  dealings  of  God  with  me  the  summer  past;  as  such  an  ac- 
count, although  somewhat  circumscribed,  maybe  of  use  in  assisting  my  mem- 
ory at  some  future  period. 

June  24,  1810. — I  attended  Church  as  usual;  but  having  been  from  home 
most  of  the  past  winter,  residing  chiefly  with  such  as  made  no  pro- 
fession of  religion,  and  being  warmly  engaged  in  pursuits  after  some  earthly 
good,  religion  was  seldom  thought  of  seriously.  The  cares  of  a  school, 
the  prospect  of  realizing,  at  some  future  time,  all  my  foolish,  thoughtless 
imaginations,  and  my.  consequent  exertions,  but  above  all,  my  wicked 
heart,  operating  all  to  the  same  purpose,  hardened  me  more,  I  believe,  against 

A 


&  APPENDIX. 

God,  than  two  years'  impenitence  had  done  before  !  And  as  might  be  expect- 7 
ed,  the  preaching  of  the  Word  had  very  little  effect,  but  to  harden.  And  I 
recollect  with  pain,  that  on  hearing  a  discourse  of  the  most  alarming  kind, 
on  the  horrors  of  damnation,  instead  of  receiving  the  intended  warning,  I, 
calm,  stupid,  and  composed,  endeavored  to  criticise  the  language  in  which 
the  solemn  ideas  \vere  clothed.  This  sermon,  by  the  gracious  application  of 
God's  spirit,  was  made  the  means  of  awakening  (and  I  truss t,  to  the  renewal  of 
the  heart)  one  of  my  companions,  elder  than  myself.  I  secretly  despised 
his  meekness  when  I  first  understood  his  fears;  and  though  I  intended,  at  some 
time  future,  to  make  religion  my  business,  yet  the  thoughts  of  devoting  my 
best  days  to  God,  or  the  sight  of  such  a  purpose  in  others,  excited  in  my  de- 
praved nature,  emotions  of  disgust.  And  Oh  !  may  I  ever  remember  with  hu- 
mility, that  this  was  my  condition,  when  only  in  my  seventeenth  year.  My  asso- 
ciate, who  about  a  week  before  had  been  gloriously  relieved  from  his  burdened 
conscience,  afterwards  made  someiemarks,  which  I  very  little  regarded,  until 
he  observed,  "  I  think,  if  I  know  my  own  heart,  I  have  enjoyed  more  this 
day,  than  in  all  my  former  life.  "  On  this  I  reflected  ;  happiness  I  had  ever 
been  in  quest  of;  had  tried  various  diversions  and  gratifications  within  my 
reach,  but  never  could  obtain  the  desired  end.  I  reflected  that  at  some  future 
period  I  must  begin  to  be  religious;  and  now  having  seen  one  who  had  ventured 
before  me,  who  above  all,  brought  such  joyful  tidings  from  the  land  of  Canaan, 
I  determined,  with  headstrong  resolution,  to  seek  until  I  found  Religion.  I 
proceeded  homeward  ;  endeavored  to  notice  as  few  surrounding  objects  as  pos- 
sible, and  to  increase  conviction  ;  and  not  suspecting  the  secret  workings  of 
the  finger  of  God,  I  thought  I  had  the  good  success  of  increasing  my  anxiety. 
Meeting  with  one  of  my  youthful  companions,  I,  without  calling  at  home, 

persuaded  him  to  accompany  me  into  the  house  of  Mr. ,  and  wait  his 

return  from  church.  I  conversed,  and  endeavored  to  think  of  nothing  but  re- 
ligious and  eternal  matters ;  and  by  the  time  Mr.  P.  arrived,  which  was  about 
an  hour  after  conference,  God  had,  as  I  trust,  increased  my  anxiety  to  such 
a  degree,  that  my  whole  frame  became  sensibly  affected.  I  cannot  say  that  I 
felt  any  great  degree  of  horror.  I  saw  a  wicked,  hardened  heart;  total  aliena- 
tion of  affections  from  God  and  all  holiness;  but  I  think  my  greatest  con- 
cern was,  lest  I  should  be  suffered  to  lose  •  my  seriousness,  and  relapse 
into  sevenfold  stupidity.  I  expected  that  when  Mr.  P.  came,  he  would  imme- 
diately explain  the  scriptural  way  for  a  sinner  to  take,  and  I  intended  to  be- 
come immediately  a  Christian.  But  he  stated  the  truth  just  as  he  had  many 
times  before,  "Repent  and  be  converted."  He  told  me  that  repentance  and  a 
new  heart  were  what  was  first  of  all  required  in  the  Word  of  God:  and  that 
whatever  a  sinner  would  perform,  previous  to  a  change  of  heart,  was  sinful, 
and  consequently  must  be  displeasing  to  God:  that  God  had  been  at  infinite 
expense  to  provide  salvation  for  mankind,  and  should  they  only  be  heartily 
willing,  never  could  a  sinner  miss  salvation.  This  was  not  the  advice  I  ex- 
pected, but  I  felt  it  to  be  the  truth;  I  think  I  felt  myself  completely  in  a  lost 


APPENDIX.  6 

condition,  but  no  particular  sins  appeared  to  my  view  which  were  of  promi- 
nent appearance.  My  whole  past  life  appeared  like  an  ocean  of  darkness, 
and  guilt  and  sin.  My  thoughts  were  brought  to  see  the  necessity  of  an  atone- 
ment, and  to  see  in  some  small  degree  its  superlative  worth.  Oh,  I  could 
exclaim,  Oh,  the  riches  of  that  redemption,  which  delivers  mankind  from 
this  state  of  ruin.  I  tried  to  love  the  Saviour;  but  alas  !  for  want  of  faith  I 
could  not  see  him.  My  reason  told  me  that  God  was  present  and  superintend- 
ed all  his  works,  but  I  could  not  realize  the  truth.  I  strove  to  pray,  but  was 
sensible  that  I  only  mocked  the  God  I  pretended  to  address.  I  almost  fear- 
ed to  retire  to  rest,  lest  I  should  lose  my  impressions  before  morning;  for  I 
thought  that  even  if  I  must  go  to  hell  at  last,  this  world  was  so  transitory,  that 
it  mattered  not  whether  I  spent  it  in  reflecting  on  my  future  misery,  or  in 
carnal  mirth;  yea,  rather  I  chose  the  former. 

Monday  morning. — When  I  awoke,  I  thought  my  serious  impressions  had 
all  left  me.    I  was   alarmed,  immediately  began  to  pray  for  their  return. 
I  found  myself  quite  weakened  in  body;  but  after  a  few  minutes,  I  recognised 
the  same  feelings  as  the  night  before;  and  when  I  prayed  for  relief,  my  desires 
appeared  to  break,   as  it  were,  through   a  cloud,  and  rose  away  towards 
God,  which  feelings  I   considered  immediately  to  be  conversion.    I  took 
the  Bible,  tried  to  love  it;  I  read  it,  and  persuaded  myself  it  appeared  new. 
I  mentioned  my  feelings  to  Mr.  P.,  he  warned  me  to  be  cautious  lest  I  set- 
tled my  hope  on  a  false  foundation.   The  caution  I  considered  as  almost  need- 
less.    But  I  did  not  ask  myself,  whence  springs  thy  joy?    Nor  whether  my 
views  were  such  as  the  Bible  would  justify?    But  because  I  considered  my- 
self renewed,  I  rejoiced  and  felt  a  kind  of  selfish  love  to  the  God  to  whom  I 
owed  this  mercy,  "but  the  hope  of  the  hypocrite  shall  perish."    And  blessed 
be  the  Lord,  in  two  hours'  time,  all  my  joyful  sensations  left  me;  but  I  how- 
ever flattered  myself  that  I  was  renewed,  and  should  be  revisited  ere  long.    I 
went  to  visit  my  religious  friend;  stated  my  exercises  to  him,  and  left  him 
something  dissatisfied  that  he  did  not  believe  me  converted;  but  I    found 
by  his  conversation,  that  I  knew  nothing  of  the  God  and  Saviour  that  he  de- 
scribed.    On  my  way  home,  I  called  at  a  Masonic  meeting,  heard  the  elo- 
quence of  the  preacher,  but  was  far  from  receiving  the  least  comfort;  and  I 
think  I  may  say  also,  instruction.     O,  may  false  teachers  be  confounded  or 
changed!     The  remainder  of  the  day  I  spent  very  unhappily,  and  what  was 
worst  of  all,  I  felt  and  thought  that  I  was  fast  sinking  back  into  stupidity;  still 
my  selfishness  prevailed,  I  wished  to  be  saved  for  the  sake  merely  of  my  own 
salvation;  but  praise  to  the  Lord,  that  he  has  prepared  no  such  heaven  as  I  was 
anxious  for!     Tuesday — my  feelings  were  much  the  same  as  in  the  morning; 
I  gave  over  all  business  except  reading.    About  noon,  finding  that  my  works 
of  devotion  did  me  no  good,  I  retired  and  endeavored  to  seek  assistance  from 
God  alone.    I  felt  that  I  could  pour  out  my  soul,  as  I  never  could  before.    My 
own  salvation  appeared  to  be  of  so  little  consequence,  in  comparison  with  the 
great  design  of  Jehovah  and  other  things,  that  I  was  perfectly  passive  about 


4  APPENDIX. 

myself.  I  opened  a  small  book,  and  found  an  observation  respecting  the  fu- 
ture glory  of  the  Church — the  reinstatement  of  the  Jews;  and  God's  determi- 
nation, ever  to  have  a  church  on  earth,  and  that  millions  were  yet,  in  all  pro- 
bability, to  be  brought  from  this  earth  to  eternal  glory;  and  that  the  accom- 
plishment of  these  glorious  events  was  not  left  to  man,  but  that  God  had  en- 
gaged to  perform  it.  Who  can  describe  the  joy  that  arose  in  my  soul,  on 
reading  this.  I  could  heartily  exclaim,  glorify  thyself,  O  God.  Without  ec- 
stacy,  I  was  completely  happy.  I  thought  Christ  appeared  almost  exhibited 
to  the  view  of  my  natural  eyes.  I  knew  I  could  embrace  him,  and  wished 
for  nothing  else,  except  the  salvation  of  my  fellow  mortals.  These  soul  satis- 
fying views  continued  and  increased  till  night,  when  my  religious  friend  came 
to  see  me.  And  O,  what  an  evening  of  bliss  almost  divine!  Heaven  almost 
appeared  to  have  descended;  my  friend  as  happy  as  myself,  and  every  object  ex- 
cepting impenitents,  appeared  to  sing  my  Saviour's  praise.  I-  imagined  myself 
able  to  persuade  all  to  come,  but  found  many  a  bitter  disappointment,  and  I 
am  now  persuaded  that  the  power  of  conversion  is  alone  from  God.  The  next 
day  these  high  joys  left  my  sinful  breast.  I  began  to  doubt  the  reality  of 
the  change.  Thursday,  they  again  returned  with  sweetly  conquering  pow- 
er, and  I  believe  subdued  my  rising  pride.  From  that  to  this  time,  I  think  I 
have  enjoyed  much  of  the  presence  of  Jesus. 

November  27th,  1810. — But  frequent  darkness  fills  me  often  with  doubts  and 
fears.  But,  blessed  Saviour!  thou  canst,  and  wilt,  I  trust,  lead  me  through.  O 
increase  my  faith — I  expect  shortly  to  walk  the  golden  streets  of  bliss,  beyond 
the  stars,  to  join  the  church  triumphant,  in  shouting  praises  to  the  Lamb,  eter- 
nally. O  may  I  give  away  all  hopes  of  my  own  righteousness  availing  me, 
•where  all  are  clothed  in  robes  washed  in  the  blood  of  Jesus!  Having  resumed 
my  studies,  Mr.  P.  advised  me  to  prosecute  them  with  an.  -intention  of 
preparing  to  publish  abroad  the  news  of  salvation.  I  hesitated,  but  on  sub- 
sequent reflection,  considering  the  station  and  opportunity  Divine  Providence 
has  offered  me,  I  have  thought  it  my  duty  to  study  with  that  intention;  and 
should  no  direction  of  Providence  operate  to  prevent,  I  hope  I  feel  wil- 
ling to  devote  the  remainder  of  my  forfeited  life  to  the  immediate  service  of  God, 
and  my  fellow  mortals.  But  in  one  thing  I  am  doubtful  respecting  my  duty; 
in  relation  to  entering  College  and  spending  four  years  enthronged  about  by 
temptations,  perhaps  the  most  engaging  to  my  disposition  of  any  in  the  world. 
And  although  I  am  sensible  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  proper  education; 
yet  I  am  not  confident,  that  it  ought  not  to  be  obtained  in  some  other  way, 
than  by  passing  through  all  the  forms  of  a  College,  where  pretensions  to 
the  religion  of  Jesus,  are  most  strictly  observed,  yet  the  student,  involved 
in  literary  mazes,  is  liable  to  the  hurtful  influence  of  sentiments  of  rivalship. 
A  man  may  become  qualified  for  the  business  of  the  world,  but  the  simplicity 
and  purity  of  the  religion  of  Jesus,  is  certainly  liable  to  exceeding  great  cor- 
ruption, and  the  student  to  spiritual  loss;  disadvantages  have  resulted  to  the 
world,  which  might  be  remedied  by  studies  more  private. 


APPENDIX.  5 

Tuesday  afternoon,  August  27th. — I  was  taken  unwell;  before  this  I  suffered 
myself  to  be  off  my  guard;  was  enabled,  as  I  trusted,  to  put  my  trust  in  my 
merciful  Creator.  I  think  that  I  had  some  sense  of  the  situation  of  a  person 
on  the  borders  of  death,  though  very  imperfect  indeed.  Wednesday  and 
Thursday,  grew  better,  the  latter  of  which  days,  I  began  again  to  study;  but 
Friday,  my  indisposition  returned  to  a  considerable  degree,  and  I  may,  before 
the  end  of  the  month,  which  commences  to-morrow,  be  in  eternity!  O  may 
my  heavenly  Father  afford  me  every  needed  grace,  whether  to  live  or  die, 
for  one  is  as  solemn  as  the  other,  and  perhaps  not  more  so. 

I  am  at  present  engaged  in  studying,  which  is  so  agreeable,  that  I  am  in 
danger  of  being  so  engaged,  as  to  neglect  my  duty  to  my  God,  but  his  grace 
is  sufficient  for  me. 

,  February  15th — Bristol,  1813. — Religion  is  life's  great  work.  As  it  is  the 
business  of  preparation  for  eternity,  it  certainly  is  most  important;  as  it  is 
wrought  in,  and  towards  God,  is  most  solemn  and  interesting;  and  as  it  is  the 
chief  end  of  mortals,  its  process  on  the  soul,  and  the  process  of  our  advance- 
ment in  it,  ought  most  seriously  and  carefully  to  be  known,  and  noticed  in 
ourselves.  Our  worldly  engagements  are  commonly  the  subject  of  our  most 
accurate  and  scrutinous  investigation.  The  men  of  the  world  are  not  only  ac- 
quainted with  the  present  state  of  their  affairs,  in  all  the  circumstances  and 
varieties  attending  them,  but  can  usually  review  and  recount  with  ease, 
the  whole  train  of  transactions  which  have  preceded,  and  tended  to  bring  them 
to  their  present  posture,  but  the  Christian,  (shame  to  his  careless  indifference, 
and  criminal  stupidity,)  is  frequently  unapprised  of  his  present  state,  and  sel- 
dom able  to  retrace  his  footsteps  with  precision,  or  describe  the  devious  path 
that  has  conducted  him  through  former  scenes  and  dangers.  The  workings 
of  his  own  heart  are  thus  unattended  to,  and  he  remains  ignorant  of  himself. 
The  operations  of  the  Spirit  are  not  carefully  and  seriously  noted,  and  he  thus 
remains  ignorant  of  God,  and  the  more  liable  to  easy  imposition  from  the  spirit  of 
Anti-Christ,  and  the  influence  of  spurious  affection.  By  the  neglect  of  atten- 
tion to  all  the  vicissitudes  of  Christian  experience,  we  remain  lamentably,  and 
most  unhappily  ignorant  of  the  great  art,  of  applying  scripture  to  all  the  varia- 
tions of  state  and  feeling,  to  which  the  wisdom  of  their  Divine  Author  has 
surprisingly  adapted  their  use.  Growth  in  grace  consists  in  the  knowledge  of 
God,  and  a  saving  understanding  of  divine  things,  gained  through  faith.  It  is 
always  evinced  by  fruits  of  holiness.  These  fruits  are  inseparable  from  pro- 
gressive sanctification,  and  are  such  as  mark  the  distinction  between  the  saint 
and  sinner.  To  Christians  the  fruits  of  righteousness  observable  in  each  other, 
are  almost  conclusive  evidence  of  their  glorious  state;  but  still  there  is  a  great 
liability  to  deception,  not  only  in  regard  to  others,  but  even  in  regard  to  our- 
selves, if  we  found  our  judgments  on  externals  alone.  The  heart  is  the  seat  of 
operation  of  all  grace,  here  the  springs  of  action  must  originate,  and  from  their 
peculiar  nature  must  Christians  judge  of  the  nature  of  all  their  conduct.  The 
heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked.  And  its  depths  and 


6  APPENDIX. 

subtilties  can  only  be  fathomed  and  unravelled  by  the  Word  of  God,  which  is 
quick  and  powerful,  and  sharper  than  any  two  edged  sword,  piercing  even  to 
the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  accompanied  by  the  energy  of  di- 
vine grace,  will  enable  the  understanding  to  make  all  needful  discrimination, 
and  find  out  our  real  situation  relative  to  divine  things.  May  the  Spirit  of  divine 
grace  from  on  high,  be  my  aid  in  the  all-important  work  of  self-investigation, 
and  direct  me  in  the  description  of  all  my  views,  in  the  subsequent  pages. 
May  they  be  filled  with  the  sweet  narration  of  many  seasons  of  most  endearing 
consolations,  and  most  heavenly  refreshments,  in  the  course  of  that  part  of  my 
earthly  pilgrimage,  which  they  shall  embrace.  For  more  than  a  year  past,  I 
have  neglected  to  keep  a  religious  diary,  and  not  inconsiderably,  I  have 
thought,  to  my  disadvantage.  By  perusing  a  written  experience,  we  are  led  to 
review  our  past  life,  which  most  necessary  work  is  otherwise  neglected. 
Even  the  time  devoted  to  the  noting  down  of  our  religious  exercises  and  spi- 
ritual state,  may  be  spent  in  a  manner  highly  edifying,  while  it  leads  to  a 
survey  of  our  heart  in  all  its  actions.  Last  summer  for  several  months  together, 
was  the  most  barren  part  of  my  whole  life;  the  world  had  almost  entirely  over- 
come me.  I  was  filled  with  its  pride,  fully  engaged  in  its  pursuits,  possessed 
of  its  spirit,  and  participating  in  its  employments  and  pleasures.  Political  con- 
versation, and  newspaper  investigation,  had  taken  the  place  of  religious  ex- 
hortation and  fervor,  and  the  study  of  the  scriptures.  The  great  object  to 
which  I  had  formerly  aimed,  and  my  exertions  in  the  literary  path  were  almost 
forgotten. 

If  I  have  ever  known,  or  ever  shall  be  restored  to  the  smiling  aspect  of  an 
approving  Saviour,  w7hat  a  wonder  of  grace;  Lord,  to  thy  name  be  all  the  glory. 
Conscience  often  in  the  course  of  the  summer,  awoke  in  all  its  array  of  terror, 
and  reduced  my  mind  to  all  the  acuteness  of  guilty  misery.  When  brought 
partially  to  realize  and  deplore  my  back-slidden  condition,  my  resolution  was 
not  so  strong,  nor  my  zeal  so  vigorous,  as  I  think  they  formerly  were,  when 
in  the  enjoyment  of  God's  presence. 

Early  in  September,  I  entered  College  at  Middlebury;  on  my  passage  thither, 
as  indeed  before  my  departure  from  home,  I  indulged,  almost  unbridled,  my 
corruptions;  and,  0  my  God,  canst  thou  forgive  it,  I  most  presumingly  tramp- 
led under  foot  the  sacred  sabbath  institution,  without  the  shadow  of  an  occa- 
sion. 

After  several  weeks  however,  God  in  a  manner  revealed  the  riches  of  his 
grace,  in  granting  a  hopeful  remission:  and  through  the  fall  months  I  enjoyed 
some  sweet  hours  of  refreshment  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  And  I  be- 
lieve the  faithfulness  and  pious  example  of  my  religious  fellow  students  was 
used  as  a  powerful  instrument,  of  rousing  the  torper  of  my  soul. 

Bristol,  Monday,  February  23,  1815. — This  morning,  with  some  little  sense 
of  divine  things,  I  went  nine  miles  into  Starksborough,  to  attend  the  fu- 
neral solemnities  of  old  Mr.  Marshall,  who  for  forty  years,  I  think,  has  been 
a  champion  in  the  service  of  the  cross.  He  died  turned  of  eighty,  an  example 


APPENDIX.  7 

of  piety  and  most  ardent  devotion  to  the  work  of  God;  a  pillar  in  the  Churches; 
most  prevalent  and  powerful  in  his  prayers  to  God;  and  perhaps  in  his  conver- 
sation, the  most  edifying  of  any  Christian  in  all  this  northern  world.  After 
the  funeral  ceremonies  were  closed,  I  learnt  that  two  of  my  sisters  in  Cham- 
plain,  had  recently  died;  the  one  elder  than  myself,  the  other  younger.  I  left 
them  all  in  perfect  health.  The  shock  was  great,  but  I  enjoyed,  I  think,  divine 
support.  God  appeared  for  my  comfort.  I  had  a  remarkable  season  of  near- 
ness to  God  in  prayer  by  the  way;  on  my  return,  His  glory  appeared  so  far  to 
transcend  all  earthly  considerations,  that  while  entertained  with  the  marvelous 
and  blessed  theme,  I  almost  forgot  the  wound  that  had  transfixed  my  heart. — 
In  contemplating  the  distraction,  sinfulness,  and  tremendous  judgments  of 
God,  prevalent  on  the  earth,  at  the  present  day,  the  world  stood  revealed  in 
all  its  deformity  and  emptiness.  Nothing  stood  forth  in  the  whole  gloomy  ' 
scenery,  on  which  the  anxious  eye  could  bear  to  rest,  or  my  sickening  heart 
endure,  except  the  church  and  cause  of  God,  which  shone  in  all  its  splendor 
to  meet  my  gaze.  Here,  here,  my  soul  could  move  with  delight,  find  a  charm 
that  softened  all  the  rigor  of  a  horrid  world. 

This  evening  by  special  request  of  a  dying  woman,  in  company  with  Mr. 
B.  paid  her  a  visit.  She  was  alarmingly  sensible  of  her  unprepared  state  for 
death.  I  felt  much  confidence  in  prayer  for  and  with  her.  Endeavored  in 
conversation  to  exhibit  to  her  view,  her  own  heart  and  life,  in  all  their  cor- 
ruption and  sins;  to  lead  her  to  despair  of  all  help  from  man,  or  earth,  or 
heaven,  but  by,  and  from  and  through  the  Saviour,  (who'must  effect  the  whole) 
to  seek  the  renovation  of  her  heart. 

Wednesday,  February  20th,  1813. — In  consequence  of  the  information  receiv- 
ed on  Monday,  I  considered  it  my  duty  to  return  to  Champlain.  About  10 
A.  M.  left  town  in  a  comfortable  state  of  mind;  thought  I  felt  a  degree  of  sub- 
mission to  God,-  and  to  praise  him  for  his  own  perfection.  Enjoyed  great 
serenity  of  mind  all  day;  felt  a  degree  of  resoluteness,  and  support  in  making 
religion  the  theme  of  conversation  with  those  with  whom  I  met.  And  final- 
ly, for  me,  weak,  and  sinful,  and  unfaithful  as  I  am,  the  enjoyments  and  con- 
tinued solemnity  of  this  day,  equal  those  of  my  mast  favoured  seasons  of  inter- 
course with  my  God.  In  the  evening,  hpwever,  at  the  tavern,  my  faith  was 
weakened,  unwarily  conversing  with  some  irreligious  people  on  worldly  to- 
pics. My  natural  sins  of  vanity  and  pride,  and  a  desire  of  worldly  esteem,  made 
their  appearance,  and  insensibly  led  my  heart  aside  from  its  fixed  attitude. 

O  Lord  of  all-supplying  grace,  assist  me  ever  in  the  discharge  of  duty,  both 
as  respects  the  season,  matter  and  manner  of  it.  Teach  me  in  all  my  reproofs, 
warnings  and  exhortations,  to  go  entirely  to  the  bottom  of  the  ground  that  I 
may  attempt  to  explore  and  improve;  and  make  thou  me  as  thorough  as  the 
great  day  of  the  Lord,  in  all  the  scrutiny  of  its  discerning  Judge,  may  require. 
And  rather  than  in  any  way,  cry  a  false  peace,  or  daub  with  untempered  mor- 
tar, may  I  feel  happy  to  subject  myself  to  all  the  opposition  and  contemptuous 
or  angry  retorts  of  a  blind  world. 


8 


APPENDIX. 


My  business  and  feeling  concurring  to  prevent  it,  I  unseasonably  neglect- 
ed to  advocate  and  inculcate,  even  when  suitable  occasions  offered,  the 
duties  of  religion.  O  my  unfaithfulness,  O  my  sin !  Lord  of  love,  I  have 
frequently  of  late  exclaimed,  can  it  be,  that  I  ever  loved  thee?  Have  not  all 
my  supposed  experiences  of  religious  joy  and  grace  in  the  heart,  been  delusory 
and  vain?  Can  it  be,  that  one  of  thine  adopted  should  ever  be  so  weak,  so 
timid,  and  so  little  engaged,  and  so  very  inconstant  in  thy  service? 

But  usually  I  feel  a  support  that  will  not  let  me  sink,  and  having  obtained  help 
of  the  Lord,  I  still  maintain  a  lively  hope  of  an  interest  secured  by  the  incompre- 
hensible love  of  God,  my  everlasting  Saviour.  I  have  lately  been  led  to  view 
in  a  more  accurate  manner  than  usual,  the  superlative  wisdom  and  goodness 
of  God  in  the  dispensations  of  his  providence  towards  me.  And  even  my  own 
past  wickedness  I  sometimes  view  as  contributing  an  essential  part  towards 
my  preparation  for  some  station,  to  which  God  intends  me. 

Saturday,  ISth  March. — To  day  on  my  way  to  school,  I  overtook  brother 
Fisk,  from  Middlebury,  on  a  Gospel  errand.  His  solemnity,  zeal,  and  humility, 
as  usual.  On  contrasting  my  daily  deportment  with  his  upright  walk,  I  be- 
came in  some  measure  affected  with  my  uniform  deficiency  in  Christian  holiness 
and  watchfulness.  We  set  out  together  for  Starksboro,  and  after  much  edify- 
ing conversation  on  his  part,  staid  at  Mr.  P's.  I  this  afternoon  had  a  comfor- 
table reliance,  and  support. 

Sabbath  14. — In  prayer  this  morning  had  a  season  of  sensible  nearness. — 
Some  little  sensation  of  prevailing  faith.  Much  elevated  in  petitioning  for  a 
foreign  spread  of  the  gospel  of  grace.  Could  I  ever  enjoy  such  mornings  of 
earnest  wrestling,  and  such  filial  assurance,  I  think  that  I  should  sink  some 
in  humility;  and  rise  in  my  views  of  God,  and  the  strength  of  my  attachment 
to  him.  Spent  the  day  in  a  very  reviving  and  precious  frame.  Spoke  and 
conversed  much.  My  prayers  easy.  Consideration  of  my  own  and  others'  res- 
ponsibility in  dealing  out  the  treasures  of  Gospel  truth,  weighed  powerfully 
on  my  mind  this  afternoon. 

My  thoughts  are  of  late  much  engaged  on  the  subject  of  missions.  My 
greatest  happiness  arises  in  finding  a  pious  brother  whose  soul  flames  with 
love  to  the  souls  of  the  poor  heathen.  I  have  lately  been  much  enraptured 
with  the  idea  cf  a  martyr's  death,  after  a  life  of  laborious  faithfulness  in 
heathen  lands ;  and  I  consider,  that  all  the  honors  and  glories  of  this  world 
enjoyed  for  ages,  are  by  no  means  to  be  compared  with  it.  O  my  God,  fit  me 
for  the  overtures  of  thy  providence,  and  if  consistent,  make  me  a  zealous, 
faithful,  humble,,  and  very  successful  minister  of  the  Saviour's  grace  to 
heathen  and  destitute  nations,  and  raise  up  to  the  blessed  work  many,  from 
all  Christian  countries,  illustrious  for  real  piety  and  ardent  for  the  honors  of 
thy  name.  0  Lord,  shall  apostolic  resolution,  shall  primitive  devotedness 
and  attachment  to  the  Saviour,  no  more  characterise  thy  dear  children ;  no 
more  add  lustre  and  energy  to  thy  ministers  of  salvation  in  this  world  ?  with 
Thee  is  the  residue  of  the  spirit,  and  the  interests  of  Zion  are  thine  own. 


OF  THE. 


APPENDIX. 

Alas !   how  sadly  do  I  fail  of  that  circumspection  of  conduct  which 
gospel  enjoins,  relative  to  those  without.    How  can  the   Christian  walk,  ex- 
cept his  God  brace  every  footstep  ! 

When  we  go  to  the  Throne  of  Grace,  the  darkest  side  of  our  condition 
should  always  bo  first  and  most  humbly  exhibited  before  God. 

Rules  to  be  observed  : 

To  peruse  the  subsequent  articles  weekly. 

I.  To  retire  for  secret  prayer  three  times,  daily. 

1.  As  soon  in  the  morning  as  returned  from  recitation. 

2.  As  soon  at  noon  as  returned  from  recitation. 

3.  At  evening  as  soon  as  returned  from  prayers. 

II.  To  read  the  scriptures  after  social  prayer  in  the  morning  :  and  always 
a  portion  of  the  Greek  Testament  immediately  before  a  dedicatory  prayer, 
which  is  next  to  precede  my  retiring  every  evening. 

III.  To  attend  exclusively  to  my  classics,  from  the  time  of  the  conclusion 
of  the  morning  exercises,  till  eleven. 

2.  From  short  exercises  after  dinner  to  attend  to  my  classics  until  half 
past  3  or  4  o'clock. 

3.  From  that  time  till  prayers,  to  attend  to  useful  reading. 

4.  From  my  return  from  prayers  till  dark,  on  Monday,  Wednesday,  and 
Tuesday  evenings,  to  attend  to  speaking  or  writing. 

5.  During  the  same  interval  on  Tuesday,  Friday,  and  Saturday  evenings, 
to  prepare  a  subject  for  the  evening  meeting. 

IV.  To  spend  the  whole  of  Monday,  Wednesday,  and  Thursday  evenings', 
in  useful  reading. 

2.  To  employ  the  remnant  of  Tuesday  and  Friday  evenings,  after  meet* 
ing,  in  writing  my  diary,  letters,  or  pieces,  for  Societies. 

3.  Saturday  evening  in  reading  the  Bible. 

4.  Sabbath  evenings  in  reading  the  Bible  and  Greek  Testament,  and  in 
writing  and  reading  my  diaiy. 

V.  Wednesday  and  Saturday  afternoons,  from  after  speaking  till  prayers, 
either  in  reading,  writing,  conversing,  or  transacting  necessary  business.     Sa- 
turday afternoon,  all  possible  preparation  to  be  made  for  the   Sabbath — and. 
if  possible,  my  Greek  lesson  to  be  read.    Saturday  p.  M.  also,  may  be  spent 
most  commonly,  in  religious  visiting. 

2.  Sabbath  to  be  sanctified  as  the  Lord  directs. 

VI.  From  these  articles  on  needful  occasions,  my  conduct  may  often  vary  ; 
but  let  the  strictest  attention  be  ever  given  them,  when  circumstances  pormit. 

May  1st,  1813. — The  latter  part  of  the  week  much  entertained  with  the 
reflections  excited  by  a  passage  in  xi.  Hebrews.  "They  wandered  about  in 
sheep-skins  and  goat-skins,  being  destitute,  afflicted,  tormented,  of  whom 
the  world  was  not  worthy.  They  wandered  in  desert?  and  mountains,  and  in 

B 


APPENDIX. 

dens  and  caves  of  the  earth."  My  part,  I  reflect,  is  yet  to  be  acted  among  the 
multitudes  of  the  race  that  have  past,  and  are  passing,  through  this  proba- 
tionary world.  Now  is  my  glorious  opportunity  to  choose,  whether  in  the 
pursuit  of  word'y  distinctions,  led  on  by  wordly  hopes,  and  captivated  by 
wordly  attractions,  I  pass  into  eternity ;  or  whether,  trusting  in  the  Lord, 
only  anxious  for  the  honors  of  his  name,  I  live  by  faith,  equally  separated 
from  the  rudiments,  and  destitute  of  the  spirit  of  this  world,  with  the  holy 
prophets,  patriarchs  and  apostles  of  old,  (if  not  equally  deprived  of  the  con- 
veniences and  common  blessings  of  life)  looking  every  day  and  labouring 
every  hour  for  a  better  inheritance  in  the  upper  world,  seeking  for  gracious 
acceptance  with  my  God,  and  a  blessed  part  in  the  first  resurrection.  I  have 
daily  temptations  of  the  most  persuasive  kind,  when  the  darkness  of  this 
world  draws  its  obscurity  over  my  mind,  to  conform  myself  to  the  respecta- 
ble, the  sensible,  (in  the  language  of  the  suggestion)  and  the  wise  ;  of  main- 
taining a  certain  dignity  of  character,  of  choosing  and  forsaking  certain  asso- 
ciates, and  in  effect,  of  quitting  the  humble  walks  of  a  disciple  of  Jesus,  for 
a  certain  course,  which  my  Bible  tells  me  leads  directly  away  from  God,  away 
from  Heaven,  and  finally,  leads  honorably  down,  by  insensible  declivities,  to 
the  gates  of  Hell !  Great  God,  give  me  of  thine  abundant  mercy,  faith  in  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  a  firm  reliance;  suitable  views  of  divine  things,  of  this  world 
and  the  world  to  come.  While  in  the  most  hearty  language  of  my  soul's  sin- 
cerity, I  make  a  solemn  engagement,  recalling  to  mind  all  I  have  formerly 
vowed,  and  feeling  the  weight  of  thy  commands  that  bind  me  to  it,  to  forsake 
the  honors  and  pleasures  and  vanities  of  the  world,  be  for  Christ,  and  him 
alone,  make  his  cause  my  cause,  his  honor  mine,  his  cross  my  glory,  shame 
for  his  name  my  greatest  rejoicing,  and  the  light  of  his  spirit,  the  vital  princi- 
ple of  my  existence. 

May  16,  1813. — My  constant,  ruling  propensity  for  prayer,  I  found  in  the 
first  stages  of  the  decline,  began  to  relax  into  a  kind  of  indifference  ;  soon  the 
duty  became  not  agreeable,  and  lastly,  a  real  burden.  Thus,  in  the  first  symp- 
toms of  backsliding,  if  the  care  of  the  soul  be  not  regarded  with  a  trembling 
solicitude,  and  penitence  immediately  exercised,  we  may  depend  on  a  wicked 
downfall. 

When  the  Christian  has  given  him,  through  God's  self-dictating  goodness, 
timely  notice  of  apostacy  from  the  divine  life,  to  cold  impenitence,  and  yet 
deliberately  stops  his  ears,  tarries  negligently  without  pressing  onward  for 
shelter  from  the  clouds  that  already  begin  to  blacken  over  him  ;  when  this 
transcendent  love  and  care  on  the  one  hand,  is  violated  by  sinful  senselessness 
on  the  other ;  God  might  justly,  as  respects  the  desert  of  the  offender,  make 
him  an  eternal  monument  of  his  righteous  indignation,  and  of  his  regard  for 
the  honor  of  his  own  authority.  For 

1.  At  such  seasons,  God  calls  on  the  creature  most  expressly,  for  his 
prayers;  and  this  he  understands. 

2.  Disobedience  to  an  injunction  intuitively  enforced  by  the  voice  of  heav- 


APPENDIX.  11 

en,  must  be,  of  all  the  most  conceivable  sins,  one  of  the  most  heinous.  To 
lose  ground  once  by  the  grace  of  God  obtained,  the  enlightened  mind  of  the 
Christian  knows  an  actual  and  important  sin. 

3.  The  backslider  in  such  circumstances,  sins  with  the  criminal  presump- 
tion, that  God  will,  when  himself  pleases  to  desire  it,  recall  his  vagrant  de- 
sires, forgive  his  sins,  and  light  up  a  flame  of  love  in  his  soul. 

4.  The  professing  Christian,  in  a  special  manner,  breaks  deliberately  his 
consecrating  vows;  and  turns  against  every  precept  in  the  Word  of  God,  which 
binds  him  to  the  Lord,  and  to  no  other,  consecrated  in  heart  and  affection,  as 
well  as  in  speech  and  action:  and 

5.  Because  he  knows,  that  once  darkened,  his  heart  may  heedlessly  be  led 
to  the  exercise  of  every  unhallowed  feeling;  and  he  have,  in  a  measure,  lost 
the  power  of  withstanding. 

The  long-suffering  patience  of  God,  thus  abused,  only  because  its  very  na- 
ture is  divine,  has  not  left  me. 

May  22nd. — Arrived  towards  night  at  Mr.  K d's  in  Brandon:  was  wel- 
comed with  uncommon  cordiality,  and  found  in  his  neighbourhood  great  en- 
couragement for  faithful  prayer  and  unremitting  exertion  in  the  cause  of  our 
Master.  Some  praying  souls  in  the  neighbourhood  stood  waiting  for  better 
times;  but  as  a  body,  the  church  lay  a  dead  weight  against  the  progress  of  a 
work  of  reformation.  What  an  awful  responsibility  rests  on  opposing  pro- 
fessors! They  are  set  as  lights  of  the  world,  yet  darkening  all  around  them! 
They  stand  as  watchmen  on  the  walls  of  Zion,  yet  sleep  while  the  enemy 
triumphs  over  the  rifled  treasury  of  their  King. 

Found  to-day,  one  Christian,  whose  heart  appeared  right;  who  acknow- 
ledged substantially  the  truth  of  the  doctrines  of  entire  submission,  dependence 
on  sovereign  grace,  and  total  depravity;  but  owing  to  a  constitutional  weak- 
ness of  intellect,  and  want  of  information  on  the  subject,  could  not  admit  at 
once,  the  whole  system  of  doctrines  connected  with  those  truths  which  the 
Bible  exhibits.  Let  charity  in  such  cases  be  exercised:  and  destroy  not  with 
your  strong  meat,  him  for  whom  Christ  died. 

May  26th. — Spent  this  evening  in  conversation  with  Mr.  H — -  on  the 
distressing  circumstances  of  Zion  in  the  vicinity,  and  of  our  land  in  general. 
He  had  that  afternoon  returned  from  an  association  of  ministers  which  met  at 
Benson;  had  learnt  the  most  melancholy  tidings  from  the  churches  in  every 
direction.  No  reformations;  no  increasing  love;  no  encouragement,  apparent- 
ly, for  ministerial  labors;  no  life  in  Christians;  no  concern  in  sinners.  Here- 
sies were  fast  multiplying,  and  gaining  advocates.  Political  distractions  rent 
in  pieces  even  Jhe  professed  unity  of  the  house  of  God.  A  spirit  of  persecu- 
tion was  fast  ripening,  and  the  enemy  concentrating  his  forces  to  the  highest 
point  of  desperate  resistance.  The  circumstances  of  most  of  the  ministers, 
as  regards  their  maintenance,  were  becoming  more  and  more  embarrassed. 
The  pestilence  had  raged  through  all  their  parishes,  and  carried  off  many  who 
stood  as  pillars  to  their  churches;  and  the  bloody  scenes  of  war,  together  with 


12  APPENDIX. 

Uie  prospect  of  a  distressing  scarcity  of  provisions,  seemed  to  complete  the 
grand  universality  of  human  woe,  and  heavenly  judgment  on  a  guilty  land. 
Since  the  first  of  January,  upwards  of  ten  thousand  had  gone  to  the  bar  of 
God  from  the  State,  and  still  the  epidemic  prevailed  in  some  places,  but  not 
•with  its  former  violence  and  mortality.  Conversing  on  fanatical  sentiments 
and  practices,  this  evening,  I  am  convinced  that  the  affections  may  be  heated 
to  a  great  degree  of  fervor  from  religious  considerations,  which  originate  and 
ore  limited  wholly  in  self.  These  may  actually  assume  the  exact  counterfeit 
of  holy  breathings  of  a  devotional  soul;  and  a  specious  kind  of  love  be  produ- 
ced, and  continued  together  with  sensations  of  high  delight,  even  for  years, 
and  the  wretched  object  of  the  deception  all  the  time  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins. 

Sabbath,  October  31st,  1813.— Have  resolved— 

1.  To  retire  thrice  daily  for  secret  prayer. 

2.  To  read  daily  at  least  three  chapters  in  the  Bible. 

8.  Not  to  pass  a  day  without  religious  conversation,  with  some  person — nor 
three  days,  with  an  impenitent. 

4.  To  study  for  God. 

5.  Not  to  utter  a  sinful,  an  unseasonable,  or  an  unnecessary  word. 

6.  To  endeavor  to  maintain  kindness,  humility,  and  an  equal  temper. 

7.  To  watch  over  myself,  and  endeavor  to  repress  the  first  risings  of  pride, 
and  every  other  inordinate  passion. 

8.  To  read  over  these  resolves  carefully  and  with  prayer,  thrice  weekly,  to 
wit;  Monday,  Wednesday,  and  Sabbath  morning,  after  my  return  from  prayers. 

Monday,  Tuesday,  and  Wednesday. — Had  most  convincing  views  of  the  infi- 
nite imperfection  of  saints,  and  all  their  services;  that  every  ray  of  light  and 
beam  of  grace  which  shines  in  upon  them,  only  serves  to  discover  more  dark- 
ness, and  to  reveal  the  fathomless  depths  of  iniquity  into  which  they  have 
sunken. 

Sabbalh,  November  21,  18.13. — Close  and  metaphysical  speculations  into 
the  abstract  nature  of  virtue  and  vice,  &c.,  I  am  as  much  disinclined  as  dis- 
qualified to  indulge.  I  had  rather  experience  one  humbling  sensation  of  a 
broken  and  bleeding  heart,  than  get  all  the  speculative,  fancied  knowledge  of 
moral  philosophy  ever  known,  for  practical  purposes. 

November  22. — I  have  lately  been  firmly  persuaded  that  duty  required  me 
to  make  previous  preparation  for  conferences,  and  other  religious  interviews, 
wherever  it  would  be  proper  for  me  to  speak.  I  was  made  so  sensible  of  my 
presumptuous  and  most  inexcusable  negligence  in  this  particular,  that  I  was 
almost  overwhelmed  with  an  apprehension  of  the  injury  I  may  have  thus  oc- 
casioned to  the  cause  of  Christ;  and  may  God  enable  me  hereafter  to  study  His 
word  with  all  diligence;  "to  find  out  acceptable  words;"  to  connect  my  thoughts 
in  a  judicious  manner;  to  deliver  with  solemnity,  sensibility,  composure,  order 
and  force. 

Tuesday,  November  2J,  1S13. — Attended  a  blessed,  and  most  impressive 


APPENDIX.  13 

meeting  last  evening.  Had,  previous  to  the  meeting,  a  spirit  of  earnest  sup- 
plication. Felt  an  assurance  of  support  and  assistance.  In  the  assembly  all 
was  solemn;  God  was  evidently  in  the  midst  of  us.  All,  without  apparent 
exception,  seemed  affected;  a  number  under  deep  concern. 

Wednesday,  November  24. — For  two  or  three  days  past,  God  has  discovered 
to  me  myself  in  such  a  manner  as  never  before.  Former  experiences  of  joy 
and  peace,  and  measures  of  grace  formerly  in  a  degree  satisfactory,  could 
give  me  little  or  no  comfort  or  rest;  for  I  knew  that  a  depth  of  iniquity  was 
still  unfathomed  within  me.  Was  led  to  earnest  supplication  for  the  work  of 
grace  to  be  deepened.  I  know  I  am  the  most  superficial  of  Christians,  from 
the  want  of  humility  and  solemnity  in  my  ordinary  deportment.  My  greatest 
anxiety,  if  I  am  capable  of  judging  of  my  own  desires,  is  to  be  so  richly 
stored,  from  the  treasures  of  grace,  with  all  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  as  to  be 
instrumental  of  saving  sinners;  comforting,  edifying,  and  promoting  the  sanc- 
tification  of  saints. 

Wednesday,  Dec.  1,  1813.— Suffered  not  inconsiderably  from  spiritual  pride. 
It  has,  on  some  occasions  lately,  made  its  entrance  awfully  into  my  breast. 
Helpless,  ruined  wretch  that  I  ain,  were  I  any  thing  than  a  mass  of  depravity, 
I  should  be  humbled. 

Tuesday,  May  2nd,  1814. — According  to  an  agreement  entered  upon  in  our 
P.  D.  Society,  nearly  all  the  pious  students  hi  College  met  in  prayer,  for  the 
heathens  and  for  missionaries,  labouring  among  them,  and  missionary  exer* 
tions  making,  or  about  to  be  made,  in  their  favour. 

In  our  P.  D.  Society,  a  resolution  has  been  adopted  appointing,  semi-annual- 
ly,  a  Committee  of  Enquiry  to  report  monthly  in  the  Society,  on  the  subject 
of  Missions.  I  have  lately  taken  some  measures  to  establish  a  contributory 
Foreign  Society,  to  increase  the  funds  of  the  Mass.  F.  M.  Society.  A  mis- 
sionary spirit  evidently  pervades,  to  an  uncommon  degree,  the  churches  of 
Christ  in  (his  vicinity. 

In  the  Spring  oi'  1814,  Mr.  Ashmun  made  a  journey  into  several 
parts  of  Vermont  and  Connecticut,  in  very  feeble  health. 

Th*e  purposed  journey  before  me,  has  tended  to  steal  away  my  heart  from 
the  pursuit  of  God's  glory,  and  a  regard  lor  the  good  of  souls.  During  my 
absence  from  this  place,  blessed  Saviour,  do  Thou  qualify  me  to  act  in  fu- 
ture, a  humble,  a  laborious,  a  wise,  and  by  Thy  strength  and  grace  alone,  a 
most  successful  part  in  Thy  church.  O  may  this  short  journey  be  to  Thy 
glory — may  I  view  it  as  the  Lord's  errand,  and  myself,  as  his  weak  and  un- 
worthy messenger. 

My  affection  for  my  missionary  brother  S increases.    I  indulge  the 

welcome  anticipation  that  God  will  make  us  field  labourers  together, — but  to 
Him.  I  would  gladly  resign  the  disposal  of  this,  and  every  other  attendant 
circumstance  and  event  of  life.  Will  the  Lord  vouchsafe  to  me  the  smiles  of 
my  Saviour,  and  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Ghost ! 

Wcybridge,  May  nth,   1814.— I  spent  the  evening  past  in  conversing  en 


14  APPENDIX. 

the  missions  in  the  East.  Saw  that  the  change  which  has  occurred  in  the 
sentiments  of  Messrs.  Rice  and  Judson,  had  been  already  instrumental  in  ex- 
citing among  the  Baptists  a  general  interest  in  the  cause  of  missions  in  the 
East,  and  throughout  the  world.  From  the  instability,  and  apparently  un- 
happy defection,  of  those  men,  from  the  truths  into  which  they  had  been  in- 
doctrinated, have  arisen  motives  to  the  American  Baptists,  to  support  a  for- 
eign mission,  which  no  event  that  we  could  choose,  could,  perhaps,  afford  them. 
They  have  seen  these  men  change  their  opinions,  with  every  motive  except 
truth  and  conscience,  to  dissuade  them  from  it ;  and  with  nothing  to  move 
them  to  it,  but  those  obligations  which  bind  the  most  disinterested  and  devo- 
tional souls  to  their  God,  and  attach  them  to  the  faith  and  purity  of  the  Gos- 
pel. Such  is  the  view  my  Baptist  brethren  and  fathers  throughout  the  United 
States,  have  taken  of  this  important  occurrence.  While  they  derive  from  it 
new  confidence  in  the  truth  of  their  distinguishing  sentiments,  they  are  led  to 
interest  themselves  deeply  in  that  cause  to  which  their  champions  are  attach- 
ed. They  feel  their  exertions  in  support  of  it,  loudly  demanded,  and  their 
obligations,  greatly  increased.  They  cannot  hesitate  to  support  and  encour- 
age by  their  prayers,  their  contributions,  and  their  friendly  assurances,  those 
men,  who  have  withdrawn  from  the  support  of  the  Mass.  Miss.  Society,  and 
now  rely  on  them  for  support.  Mr.  Rice's  exertions,  since  his  return  to  the 
United  States,  have  effected  among  the  churches  what,  perhaps,  no  other  indi- 
vidual in  America  could  so  well  have  done.  I  think  we  may  finally  venture 
to  trust,  that  God  has  kind  designs  toward  the  mission  cause,  in  exciting 
among  the  Baptists  in  the  United  States,  so  general  and  so  operative  a  spirit, 
as  the  past  year  has  given  us  the  pleasure  of  witnessing. 

How  strongly  do  the  senses,  when  delightfully  employed,  tend  to  deaden 
down  devotion,  and  prevent  that  exclusive,  holy  rising  of  the  soul  to  God 
through  Jesus  Christ.  They  may,  nevertheless,  be  sanctified.  All  may  be- 
come the  avenues  of  impressions  the  most  spiritual,  and  the  medium  of  praise, 
the  most  pure  and  exalted.  Lord,  work  this  temper  into  the  very  texture  of 
my  soul.  The  exactions  of  custom  must  command  our  attention.  These  it 
is  always  the  part  of  a  wise  man  to  diminish,  as  far  as  his  influence  and 
ability  render  it  safe  to  attempt  it ;  but  it  is  equally  the  part  of  a  prudent  man, 
not  to  attempt  their  total  abolition.  When  the  church  becomes  pure  from  her 
dross,  we  shall  behold  in  this,  as  in  other  things,  a  glorious  alteration. 

The  pernicious  use  of  ardent  spirits,  pervades  every  rank  and  character  of 
men  throughout  New  England.  This  habit  is  becoming  inveterate.  Unless 
soon  broken,  and  the  practice  of  treating  friends,  &c.  with  the  polite  poison 
is  discontinued,  the  consequences  to  the  next  generation  must  be  sad  beyond 
expression. 

Saturday  morning  rode  to  Williamstown  before  breakfast.  The  recent  do- 
nations made  this  College,  are  to  be  appropriated  to  the  support  of  professor- 
ships. A  n»w  and  valuable  philosophical  apparatus,  has  lately  been  added  to 
the  endowments  of  the  institution. 


APPENDIX,  15 

Thiesday,  I  visited  the  Shakers  in  Hancock.  Hancock  village  is  inhabited 
only  by  the  Shakers — it  consists  of  farm  houses,  and  other  buildings,  extend- 
ing on  a  street  nearly  three-fourths  of  a  mile.  Perfect  neatness  shines  through- 
out the  whole  settlement.  All  is  activity — a  bee-like  industry.  I  drove  leis- 
urely along  their  village,  almost  unnoticed,  and  repaired  to  their  office,  at 
which  their  produce  is  contracted  for,  and  all  their  commercial  affairs  trans- 
acted. Was  very  kindly  received  by  an  elderly  lady  very  neatly  attired, 
with  the  sun-shine  of  serenity  beaming  in  her  countenance,  and  a  degree  of 
delicacy  in  her  carriage  and  features,  which  bespoke  her  exemption  from  the 
ordinary  drudgery  of  her  sisterhood.  She  conversed  with  a  most 'pleasing 
frankness,  and  with  a  degree  of  intelligence  which  highly  entertained  and 
surprised  me.  She  soon  withdrew  and  sent  in  their  Elder  and  some  of  the 
lay  brethren.  I  spent  two  or  three  hours  in  close  conversation  with  them. 
They  were  as  communicative  as  I  could  possibly  desire,  and  treated  me  with 
all  the  kindness  and  respect  of  my  very  best  friends.  My  conversation  with% 
them  gave  me  a  pretty  full  view  of  their  distinguishing  errors,  and  the 
grounds  on  which  they  rest.  Regeneration  is  a  progressive  change — pro- 
gressive before  grace — progressive  in  grace — and  progressive  after  grace  has 
purified  from  all  sin.  When  the  Holy  Ghost  is  conferred,  actual  sin  is  no 
longer  committed.  Its  force  is  broken ;  and  though  it  may,  on  some  occa- 
sions break  forth  slightly,  still  it  is  not  wilful,  and  owing  more  to  the  infirmity 
of  our  natures,  for  which  we  are  not  culpable,  than  to  a  depraved  disposition. 
In  proof  that  regeneration  is  progressive,  they  speak  of  "following  Christ  in 
the  Regeneration" — of  "  the  light  which  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  per- 
fect day." 

"  The  immediate  disciples  of  our  Lord,"  say  they,  "walked  in  sin  and  im- 
perfections, while  their  Master  was  on  earth,  after  they  had  received  grace. 
They  frequently  erred.  Peter  sinned  grievously.  But  after  the  effusion  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,"  said  my  instructor,  "I  challenge  you 
or  any  other  person  to  show  me,  in  their  whole  lives,  a  single  instance  of 
sin."  I  repeated  to  him  the  exclamation  of  the  Apostle,  Romans  vii,  26;  and 
referred  him  to  the  whole  chapter  1  John  i,  7  and  last;  and  especially  to  the 
assertion  of  St.  Paul,  Galatians  ii,  10  and  11 — "And  when  Peter  was  come  to 
Antioch,  I  withstood  him  to  the  face,  because  he  was  to  be  blamed."  The  old 
Shaker  twisted  himself  half  round,  appeared  a  little  discomposed,  and  by  some 
trivial  equivocation,  evaded  the  force  of  Scripture  which  he  could  not 
confront. 

In  support  of  sinless  perfection,  he  felt  himself  on  the  whole  well  strength- 
ened by  other  passages,  which  he  thought  direct  to  the  point;  such  as  "He 
that  is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin;  neither  can  he  sin,  because  his  seed 
remaineth" — "If  we  say  we  have  fellowship  with  Him,  and  walk  in  darkness, 
we  deceive  ourselves,"  &c. — "Be  ye  holy,  for  I  am  holy;  perfect  as  your  Father 
which  is  in  Heaven  is  perfect."  And  is  God  so  unreasonable  as  to  lay  on  his 
creatures  an  injunction  with  which  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to  comply? — 


10  APPENDIX. 

They  firmly  adhere  to  the.  opinion  of  justification  by  works.  This  they  repeat- 
edly asserted,  and  with  peculiar  emphasis.  Grace  fit?  for  working;  works  jus- 
tify, sanctify,  and  gain  the  reward  in  glory.  In  proof  of  the  truth  of  this  most 
dangerous  heresy,  they  added  some  detached  passages,  which  I  have  frequently 
heard  from  the  mouths  of  moralists;  especially  one  from  the  Epistle  of  James. 
They  delight  to  boast  of  their  own  purity  and  good  deeds;  recounted  over  to  me 
what  crosses  they  had  borne;  what  attachment  to  God  they  continued  to  evince; 
what  darkness  they  had  been  delivered  from,  and  what  supplies  of  grace  and 
heavenly  illumination  they  have  received.  All  this  they  did  without  a  remote 
symptom  *of  the  least  humiliating  sense  of  the  depth  and  malignity  of  human  de- 
pravity, and  without  exhibiting  evidence  of  ever  having  known  the  true  char- 
acter of  God.  They  most  arrogantly  and  unequivocally  assumed  to  them- 
selves the  certain  knowledge  of  their  own  exclusive  rectitude  and  under- 
standing. The  Scriptures  they  hold  in  considerable  estimation.  Some  parts 
IRf  them  are  truth — some  parts  error.  Some  parts  are  the  sayings  of  men — 
some  of  good  men,  others  of  bad— and  some  parts  are  the  word  of  God.  Of 
these  last,  some  parts  have  become  antiquated — others  have  lost  their  impor- 
tance by  the  non-existence  of  the  occasions  and  circumstances  for  which  they 
were  expressly  written.  The  Old  Testament  is,  I  believe,  wholly  exploded ; 
the  words  of  the  Apostles  less  divine  than  of  the  Saviour,  and  even  His,  were 
not  so  unerring  and  circumstantial  a  guide  as  the  Spirit  which  influences  be- 
lievers. This  is  necessary  to  direct  in  all  things  ;  is  equal  in  all  cases  to  the 
authority  of  Scripture ;  and  sometimes  authorizes  a  violation  of  Scripture. 
Whatever  be  its  impulses,  it  is  infallible. 

They  employ  ftie  Scripture  to  sanction  the  guidance  of  this  spirit,  and  fol- 
low the  motions  of  the  spirit  to  violate  Scripture.  The  following  passage 
they  adduce — "  But  when  the  comforter  is  come,  &c.  he  shall  lead  you  into 
all  truth." 

The  day  of  judgment  is  now  progressing  !  As  a  specimen  of  their  abuse 
of  Scripture,  I  will  note  their  observations  on  this  awful  topic.  The  pas- 
sage is  2d  Thes.  i.  7,  8,  9,  10 ;  which  was  quoted  by  me  in  refutation  of  their 
dangerous  sentiments  last  alluded  to.  Christ  has  come  once — engaged  to 
come  again — of  this  last  coming,  the  Seventh  verse  is  an  intimation;  and  with 
the  8th,  expresses  the  manner.  He  is  to  be  revealed^not  actually  and  visibly 
to  appear  from  Heaven.  The  expression  "with  his  mighty  Angels"  is  equi- 
valent to  the  figurative  phrase  "  in  the  clouds  of  Heaven" — that  is,  with,  or 
by  means  of  a  cloud  of  witnesses — these  are  in  short  terms  the  Shakers. 
The  flaming  fire,  verse  8th,  is  refining  truth— Mat.  ii.  2,  &c.— "  When  (v.  10) 
he  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  Saints  and  to  be  admired  in  all  them  that 
believe."  Here  note,  it  is  not  said  shall  be  glorified  amongst,  orby,  or  in  view 
of  all  them  that  believe— but  in  them— that  is,  in  their  hearts,  in  their  souls, 
during  the  third  new  and  last  dispensation,  which  is  Christ's  second  coming, 
and  now  already  commenced.  His  Saints,  without  any  explanation,  are  the 
Shakers.  They  spiritualise  away  the  glorious  doctrine  of  the  resurrection, 


APPENDIX.  17 

by  degrading  to  nonsense,  all  those  plain  and  express  Scriptures,  which  sub- 
stantiate it  in  the  most  undoubted,  unequivocal  language.  The  world  is  to 
stand,  if  I  rightly  apprehended  his  communication,  the  eternal  residence  of 
the  Shakers.  The  Scriptures  which  predict  its  destruction,  are  easily  wrested 
from  their  plain  import,  and^br  world  is  to  be  understood  the  sinful  inhabitants 
of  it.  Their  abandonment  of  society  and  communion  of  property,  they  jus- 
tify by  the  example  of  the  Church  at  Jerusalem.  This  alone,  of  all  the  primi- 
tive churches,  was  perfect;  and  a  fit  model  for  the  organization  of  the  church- 
es of  the  new  dispensation. 

All  literature,  even  a  sufficient  acquaintance  with  letters  to  spell  out  a 
chapter  of  the  Testament,  is  denied  their  youth  and  children,  on  the  ground 
of  the  Saviour's  example,  and  his  omission  to  positively  enjoin  it  in  his  pre- 
cepts. Such  an  acquisition  would  expose  their  youth  to  the  contamination  of 
the  world,  by  admitting  them  to  all  its  profane  publications ;  and  all  that  is 
necessary  to  be  known  of  the  Bible,  may  be  gained  from  the  expositions  of 
their  elders. 

Celibacy  is  justified  from  the  example  of  Christ— from  that  of  many  of  his 
disciples — from  his  own  declaration — "  The  children  of  this  world,  marry  and 
are  given  in  marriage — but  they  that  shall  be  accounted  worthy  of  that  world 
and  of  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  (i.  e.  of  Shakerism)  neither  marry  nor 
are  given  in  marriage,  but  are  like  unto  the  angels  of  God;"  from  the 
Apostle's  explicit  prohibition,  and  finally  from  the  very  nature  of  the  thing; 
for  it  is  evident,  say  they,  that  all  intercourse  of  the  sexes,  not  for  the 
express  and  sole  purpose  of  the  propagation  of  the  species,  is  an  indul- 
gence in  our  vilest  and  most  unruly  propensities.  Never  was,  and  never 
can  a  connection  of  the  sexes  be  formed,  for  the  above  purely  benevo- 
lent purpose,  and  consequently  the  very  nature  of  the  union,  should  condemn 
it  forever.  It  was  permitted,  as  were  many  other  sinful  practices,  under  the 
old  legal  dispensation.  This  permission  was  then  necessary,  in  order  to  per- 
petuate our  race  to  the  present  day,  and  afford  the  materials  for  a  Royal 
Priesthood,  a  holy  generation.  These  are  to  become  co-workers  with  God  in 
the  destruction  of  the  world  ;  that  is,  of  the  profane;  and  the  pure  people  of 
God,  in  their  perfect  state,  to  which  the  Shakers  will  arrive  about  this  period, 
will  become  immortal. 

Their  sacrilegious  rite  of  dancing,  &c.  on  God's  holy  day,  is  styled  labor. 
This  they  do  to  subdue  the  sins  of  their  members ;  and  for  the  practice,  they 
find  Scriptural  injunctions  in  the  exhortations  "to  labor,"  "strive,"  "agonise," 
"work  out  your  salvation,"  &c.  &c.  These  were  the  subjects  of  my  inquiry 
and  of  their  explanation,  in  a  conversation  of  two  hours.  They  comprise 
most  of  their  distinctive  peculiarities. 

In  their  intercourse  with  their  neighbors,  they  have  ever  sustained  the  char- 
acter of  the  most  punctilious  fidelity ;  are  proverbially  industrious,  modest, 
unassuming— though  to  this,  there  are  many  exceptions.  The  human  mind  is 
evidently  depressed  a  few  degrees  below  the  ordinary  standard,  in  such  as  have, 

c 


18  APPENDIX. 

from  their  infancy,  been  among  them.  They  are  penuriously  economical, 
and  much  attached  to  their  wealth.  They  all  assemble,  at  a  stated  hour,  on 
the  Sabbath,  in  a  spacious  Hall,  furnished  with  seats,  around  the  walls  within . 
To  males  and  females,  different  parts  of  the  floor  are  appropriated.  Their 
exercises,  after  an  introductory  silence,  are  prayer,  singing,  exposition  of 
Scripture  by  an  elder,  singing  and  dancing,  in  concert.  The  dance  is  plain, 
consisting  of  an  uniform,  moderate,  and  most  exactly  measured  step — alter- 
nately, in  advance  and  retrograde,  across  the  chapel  floor.  They  move  over 
a  space  of  ten  or  twelve  feet.  Their  fraternity's  government,  is  entrusted  to 
a  selection  of  elders — male  and  female.  These  rule  with  diligence  and  lenity, 
and  usually  receive  from  the  others,  a  very  cheerful  subjection. 

Castleton,  May  18th. — Yesterday  commenced  our  journey — had  a  comfort- 
able conversation  with  brother  S ;  derived  sensible  advantages  from  it. 

What  an  invaluable  blessing  is  a  true  brother  in  Christ,  as  I  have  every  rea- 
son to  believe  brother  S.  to  be.  The  whole  world  is  vacant  as  the  wind,  of 
every  charm,  and  of  all  its  boasted  value,  when  viewed  separate  from  my  Sa- 
viour's glories.  When  connected  with  his  kingdom,  I  see  it  created  by  His 
hand,  and  upheld  by  His  power,  to  fulfil  His  great  designs.  When  thus  viewed, 
every  object  smiles  His  praise.  I  love  to  gaze  on  the  Sun,  the  Clouds,  the 
Stars,  and  Sky.  I  love  to  send  my  eyes  roving  over  the  broad  face  of  na- 
ture, on  which  was  once  acted  the  great  scene  of  His  sufferings,  His  afflic- 
tions, his  labors,  his  temptations,  persecutions  and  death.  I  love  to  look  at 
the  mountains  which  will  flee;  at  the  rivers  and  lakes  which  will  be  dried  up 
at  His  appearance.  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  from  Thy  Throne  in  glory,  quickly 
come,  and  grant  deliverance  to  all  Thy  servants — come  and  perfect  in  them 
Thy  glory. 

Unless  the  Lord  interpose  His  grace,  my  most  serious  and  frequent  resolu- 
tions cannot  regulate  even  my  external  conduct.  I  believe  my  constitutional 
frailties  are  more  numerous  than  those  of  most  others.  Alienation  of  heart 
from  God,  I  perceive,  however,  is  the  prime  reason  of  all  my  misdemeanors. 
Literary  emulation  has  lately  glowed  with  too  much  ardour  in  my  mind. 

May  27th,  1814. — My  mind  not  uniformly  prayerful — omitted  several  op- 
portunities of  saying  something  for  Jesus;  how  long  shall  I  be  obliged  either 
to  disregard  truth,  or  note  in  my  diary  a  long  succession  of  departures  from 
God !  What,  O  my  Jesus,  shall  I  do  ?  Can  I  think  to  renounce  my  profes- 
sion ?— that  would  be  to  pierce  through  in  the  most  murderous  manner  the 
heart  of  my  dear  Redeemer.  Can  I  resolve  to  devote  myself  anew  to  His 
service  !— though  I  have  failed  in  my  resolutions  repeatedly,  I  still  will  re- 
new my  trust.  O  Saviour,  confirm  thou  it,  or  I  cannot  again  resolve. 

I  have  often  abstained  from  doing  good  merely  on  account  of  unprepared- 
ness  in  my  own  soul;  but  am  convinced,  that  instead  of  thus  confirming  my 
unbelief,  by  shrinking  into  voluntary  darkness,  it  is  then,  in  a  peculiar  sense, 
my  duty  to  rise  from  the  dead  and  "come  forth."  I  always  have  as  much 
strength  and  ability  to  rouse  myself,  as  dead  Lazarus  had.  And  blessed  be 
God,  Ho  is  ever  ready  to  exert  His  resurrection  power. 


APPENDIX.  19 


June  11.— I  went  last  week  a  circuit  of  three  days'  duration,  through  the 
neighbouring  towns.  Rev.  Mr.  Perry,  of  Richmond,  gave  me  some  encour- 
agement of  accompanying  me,  but  his  health  was  so  poor  that  he  judged  it 
nnsafe  to  set  out.  A  member  of  his  family,  however,  went  with  me,  and  I 
think  I  have  reason  to  bless  God  that  the  journey  was  not  altogether  unprofit- 
able to  me, 

Two  things  exist  at  the  present  day,  which  never  did  before,  and,  which  af- 
ford us  good  ground  to  expect  unexampled  enlargement  of  the  Church.  The 
one  is  a  spirit  for  missions  to  promote  the  extension  of  divine  truth  through- 
out the  earth,  and  the  unheard  of,  and  almost  miraculous  exertions  which  this 
spirit  has  actuated.  The  other  is  the  almost  universal  coalition,  lately  formed 
of  all  the  regular  and  orthodox  churches  in  Christendom.  The  union  of  the 
Congregational  and  Presbyterian  Churches  in  America,  is  so  complete  as  to 
produce  unity  in  exertions — unity  in  sentiment  and  practice,  and  unity  in  seve- 
ral cases,  in  the  promotion  of  some  general  and  important  designs.  One  of 
these  objects  which,  at  the  general  convention  of  Presbyterian  and  Congrega- 
tional ministers  in  the  United  States,  lately  met  in  Philadelphia,  received  the 
sanction,  and  will  doubtless  still  continue  to  have  the  support  of  the  Clergy  of 
America,  is  the  correction  of  the  violations  of  the  Sabbath,  practised  by  pub- 
lic patronage.  The  particular  abuses  referred  to,  in  the  petition  of  this  numer- 
ous and  influential  body  to  Congress,  are  the  transportation  and  opening  of 
mails  on  the  Lord's  day.— Ministers  I  verily  believe,  always  have  sufficient  in- 
fluence to  support  conferences,  where  the  attachment  of  their  people  is  suffi- 
cient to  support  them. 

Travelled  a  few  miles  this  morning  in  company  with  a  student  of  Theology, 
from  Princeton,  and  brother  to  Mr.  Swift,  of  Stockbridge.  He  informed  me 
that  a  work  of  reformation  had  very  recently  taken  place  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  institution — begun,  under  the  private,  faithful  labors,  of  some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Seminary — that  the  students  are  twenty-two— that  Dr.  A 

is  one  of  the  eminently  distinguished  Christians  of  the  age — he  excels  in  hu- 
mility, ardent  feeling,  faithful  laboring,  and  in  uniformly  exhibiting  a  lamb- 
like, shining,  Christian  deportment. 

Called  to-day  in  a  very  debilitated  state  in  Granby — a  good  meeting  house  ; 
no  preacher — no  preaching — the  people,  I  learnt,  had  dismissed  their  Minister 
six  years  before.  The  present  state  of  religion  must  be  deplorable.  O !  how 
I  longed  to  be  fitted  to  preach !  if  it  might  be  to  the  glory  of  God — if  I  might 
be  qualified  with  talents,  knowledge,  grace,  humility,  trust  in  God,  and  a  soul 
swallowed  up  in  devotion.  Without  these,  I  think,  I  do  not  wish  to  live. 

Arrived  in  a  feeble  state,  towards  night,  at  E.  Hartford — called  at  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Yates'  house,  but  found  him  absent  on  the  happy  business  of  visiting  his 
people,  and  meeting  a  portion  of  them  in  a  religious  conference.  Brother 
Humphrey  was  likewise  gone  to  attend  a  religious  conference,  in  another  direc- 
tion— he  soon  returned,  and  gave  me  very  encouraging  information  of  the  re- 
formation in  Weathersfield  and  Oxford,  especially  in  the  latter  place. 


20  APPENDIX. 

Thursday— towards  night,  I  went  in  company  with  brother  H.,  to  deacon 
Stillman's — found  his  house  filled  with  a  company  of  serious  and  enquiring  fe- 
males, some  rejoicing  in  God  their  hope  of  glory,  others  trembling  with  the 
hope  of  salvation.  How  terrible,  my  soul  exclaimed,  is  this  place;  it  is  none 
other  than  the  house  of  God,  and  the  gate  of  Heaven. 

Thursday  evening,  brother  H.  and  I,  attended  in  the  conference-house.  No 
one  was  present  with  us,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  conduct  a  part  of  the 
exercises  in  public,  except  dear  S . 

Brother  H.  and  myself  spoke  with  great  freedom :  the  people  were  very 
solemn  and  much  affected.  The  next  day  I  tarried  in  the  place ;  visited  a  few 
families,  and  though  in  a  very  low  state  of  health,  could  not  forbear  spending  a 
principal  part  of  the  time  in  conversation.  I  found  the  season  refreshing.  Of 
one  hundred  who  exhibited  satisfactory  evidence  of  a  change  of  heart,  only 
forty  have  yet  joined  the  Church. 

Saturday,  June  18th.  Early  this  afternoon  I  returned  to  Hartford,  and  called 
upon  Dr.  Strong.  He  is  a  man  of  very  deep  penetration — eminent  talents — 
a  mind  abundantly  furnished  and  cultivated— and  always  prepared  to  act  with 
decision.  Religious  meetings  are  still  well  attended  in  Hartford — one  hun- 
dred, mostly  young,  have  joined  Dr.  Strong's  church.  Thirty  or  forty  more, 
exhibit  hopeful  evidences  of  regeneration. 

This  afternoon  I  rode  into  Oxford— I  was  led  to  reflect  on  my  way  to  this 
place,  in  what  manner  the  Lord  had  dealt  with  me,  in  my  whole  previous 
course.  In  afflictions  and  disappointments,  I  saw  a  Father's  tenderness  and 
wisdom.  In  prosperity  and  mercies,  I  felt  cause  for  thankfulness,  that  they 
had  not  been  followed  by  a  curse. 

I  soon  found  out  the  place  of  Mr.  C.'s  residence — Deep  devotion,  heav- 
enly mindedness,  and  spiritual  anxiety  were  strongly  marked  on  his  visage — 
his  age  is  twenty-seven — has  preached  about  one  year  and  a  half.  His  minis- 
terial talents  are  good — his  acquaintance  with  scripture  extensive — his  memory 
retentive — his  manners  affectionate — his  address  familiar  and  easy — his  con- 
versation well  adapted  to  his  solemn  employment — his  language  plain — his 
preaching  pungent,  evangelical,  and  attended  by  the  spirit  of  God,  it  falls 
with  irresistible  force  and  authority. 

Tuesday,  21s/.  To-day  Mr.  C.  went  on  a  ministerial  visit  to  the  people  of 
Weathersfi eld;  I  spent  the  morning  at  his  house,  and  in  the  afternoon  held  a  meet- 
ing with  the  youths  and  children  :  about  seventy — all  under  fifteen  years  of 
age.  On  no  occasion  did  I  ever  before  feel  more  solemnity,  and  a  greater  sense 
of  responsibility,  than  when  entering  among  this  little  host. 

Mr.  Ely,  Minister  at  Lebanon,  I  found  at  my  residence  on  my  return.— Visit- 
ed with  him,  one  family  much  to  my  satisfaction — the  wife  was  awakened 
last  Sabbath  evening,  and  appeared  to  be  truly  convicted  of  sin,  and  ruin.  She 
is  aged  about  twenty-five.  Her  husband  is  pious — lately  moved  into  the  place. 
He  had  heard  of  the  glorious  work  now  progressing,  and  moved  into  the  place, 
induced  by  the  hope,  that  the  dear  wife  of  his  bosom,  might  be  made  an  heir 


APPENDIX.  21 

of  grace.  Mr.  Ely  preached  in  the  forenoon  from  the  passage,  used  last  Sabbath 
by  Mr.  C.  "  all  things  are  now  ready,  come  unto  the  marriage."  The  object  of  his 
discourse  was  to  point  out  the  sinner's  need,  and  the  competent  and  most  abun- 
dant provision  of  the  gospel.  The  discourse  was  truly  evangelical — delivered 
in  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  and  of  the  reformation,  and  I  trust  was  not  with- 
out effect  upon  the  souls  of  those  who  heard  it. 

October  24th — Just  risen  from  my  bed  after  several  days  very  alarming  ill- 
ness; after  examining  my  preparations  for  death,  I  find  them  not  only  incom- 
plete, but  not  effectually  begun.  Some  resolutions  were  the  consequence  of 
this  discovery — 1st:  to  live  more  prayerfully;  2d:  to  guard  my  conversation 
more  effectually;  3d:  to  be  active  in  the  extent  to  which  the  duties  of  my  present 
employment  render  it  expedient,  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 

Wednesday,  October  24th,  1814.— Much  out  of  health— I  am  necessitated 
totally  to  suspend  study;  and  have  not  the  desirable  comforts  of  grace.  How 
just,  how  suitable,  and  if  duly  improved  by  me,  how  merciful  is  this  inter- 
ruption of  my  unsanctified  progress !  An  excursion  into  the  neighbouring 
towns  on  horseback,  would,  with  the  Divine  blessing,  contribute  much  to  the 
restoration  of  my  health.  I  may  make  one;  I  desire  above  all,  to  acquiesce 
in  the  wise  Providence  of  God. 

October  29th. — I  have  this  day  determined,  to  take  a  dismission  from  Col- 
lege; the  language  of  God's  Providence  calls  me  to  the  act.  My  health  ap- 
pears essentially  impaired.  It  may  be  the  purpose  of  God  to  call  me  soon 
into  eternity.  I  have  so  long  had  my  expectations  of  recovery  delayed,  that 
I  am  inclined  to  believe,  I  shall  never  be  restored.  I  feel  a  sensible  support 
from  on  high;  I  have  derived  to-day,  great  satisfaction  from  renewing  the 
dedication  of  myself  to  God.  I  could  appropriate  to  myself  the  language  of 
Watts: 

Firm  as  a  rock  His  promise  stands, 

And  He  can  well  secure 
What  I  've  committed  to  His  hands, 

'Till  the  decisive  hour. 

Am  now  from  a  conference.  Was  affected  with  the  consideration,  that  the 
opportunity  of  this  evening  is  the  last  of  a  religious  nature  that  I  shall  proba- 
bly enjoy  with  many — perhaps  with  most  present.  I  pray  my  God  to  send 
them  the  frequent  visits  of  His  grace.  I  addressed  my  brethren  and  fellow 
students  on  the  propriety,  and  enforced  the  duty  of  aiming  at  the  glory  of 
God  in  all  things;  the  appearance  of  the  students  was  solemn. 

Unless  my  present  constitutional  habit  is  very  speedily  and  thoroughly  cor- 
rected, I  think  I  cannot  hope  to  see  the  termination  of  another  year.  I  have 
attempted  to  submit  all  my  state  to  the  disposal  of  my  Heavenly  Father;  still 
I  discover  an  increasing  anxiety  to  be  spared  to  preach  the  Gospel,  if  the  will 
of  God  be  so.  If  grace  qualifies  me  for  any  active  office  in  the  Vineyard,  I 


22  APPENDIX. 

am  inclined  to  believe,  it  will  be  rather  to  break  down  the  hedge  and  root  out 
the  tares,  than  watch  over,  water,  cultivate  and  rear  to  maturity,  the  spring- 
ing fruit. 

December  1314.— The  faint  palpitations  of  spiritual  life  continued  to-day. 
I  am  ready  sometimes  to  give  up  to  some  desperate  opinion  of  myself  on  ac- 
count of  the  faintness  of  my  best  desires — the  uniformity,  and  feeble  languid 
exercises  of  my  mind.  O  that  I  might  despair  of  ray  own  capacity  to  recover 
myself— be  brought  to  a  deep  and  sickening  loathing  of  my  best  doings — be 
made  to  see  the  imperfection,  sloth,  unfaithfulness  and  sin,  which  has  ever 
attended  and  characterised  my  best  performances.  I  have  raised  up  myself 
to  a  most  unseemly  height,  on  my  past  humility,  attainments  in  grace,  com- 
mendabFe  exploits,  &c.  which  I  verily  believe  Satan  has  dressed  in  the  garb 
they  have  lately  appeared  in  to  my  imagination.  My  temper  is  naturally  ar- 
dent and  headlong.  When  I  professedly  engage  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  the 
genius  of  my  natural  mind,  especially  when  stimulated  by  a  conscious  com- 
munion with  the  Holy  Ghost,  dictates  such  labours  and  occasions  such  a  flow 
of  zeal,  as  I  believe  have  both  raised  the  admiration  of  others  and  pampered 
my  own  pride.  My  talents,  slender  as  they  are,  are  almost  altogether  of  the 
popular  kind.  I  almost  always  carry  too  much  sail  for  my  ballast— hence  I 
never  sail  long  even  in  a  moderate  gale,  without  being  thrown  keel  upwards. 
Prayer  sometimes  recovers  me.  But  when  the  immediate  occasion  which 
gave  exercise  to  my  zeal,  and  the  humbling  trial  of  the  strength  of  my  gra- 
ces may  have  withdrawn,  even  prayer  frequently  becomes  formal,  ineffectual 
and  seldom.  lean  say  on  the  very  best  grounds  of  sincerity,  that  if  I  am 
chosen  of  Christ,  I  am  indeed  less  than  the  least.  My  sensibility  was  lately 
arrested,  and  a  new,  not  unprofitable  train  of  ideas  inspired  by  reading  in  my 
Greek  Testament,  the  20th  and  21st  verses  of  the  3d  chapter  of  Ephesians. — 
Precious  Scripture!  calculated  to  humble  any  soul  but  mine.  What  endless 
treasures  of  knowledge,  glory  and  love,  are  comprehended  in  Christ  Jesus  ! — 
And  0,  the  nothingness  of  all  my  attainments  hitherto  !  They  bear  no  com- 
parison with  what  they  might  be,  were  they  not  the  shameful  testimonials  of 
time  misspent,  opportunities  neglected,  and  blessings  misused. 

I  am  daily,  much  employed  in  examining,  and  attempting  to  ascertain,  the 
strength,  comparative  excellence,  and  nature,  of  my  mental  powers — in  la- 
bouring to  discover  the  kind  of  improvement,  and  the  sphere  of  labour  in  the 
Ministry  to  which  my  disposition  is  best  suited,  and  may  best  be  accommoda- 
ted. I  discover  my  natural  manner  of  speaking  to  be  flowing  and  ardent — 
my  perception  to  be  rapid  and  naturally  superficial;  or  when  intensely  exer- 
cised it  is  liable  to  escape  control,  entwine  among  the  thoughts,  a  thou- 
sand minute  and  eccentric  particulars,  foreign  from  the  subject  to  which  I 
would  hold  it.  My  imagination  is  wild  and  too  easily  instigated  to  interfere 
officiously  when  judgment  and  discretion  only  are  needed.  In  speaking,  it 
often  begins  to  blaze,  puts  out  the  eye  of  reason,  and  by  embarrassing  memo- 
ry, and  interrupting  the  associate  chain  of  my  ideas,  and  inviting  the  mind  to 


APPENDIX.  23 

fallow  it  in  some  new  track,  it  often  has  led  me  out  of  the  sight  of  my  first 
arrangement  of  thought,  and  either  proves  too  unsteady  or  weak,  to  help  me 
out — or  runs  me  into  some  unprofitable  speculation. 

These,  and  many  other  discoveries,  have  resulted  in  the  adoption  of  two  or 
three  practical  rules  and  conclusions — 1st:  to  study  well,  and  examine  faith- 
fully in  every  light,  whatever  I  propose  to  execute;  2d:  having  once  resolved 
on  any  course  of  action,  to  prosecute  it  with  the  most  prompt  and  persevering 
energy;  3d:  never  to  scruple  the  expediency  of  attempting  any  innovation 
in  established  principles  or  practices,  when  once  assured  from  the  teachings 
of  the  Word  and  Spirit  of  God,  that  His  cause  requires  them;  4th:  never,  from 
irresolution  or  indolence,  to  break  off  a  work  half  executed;  5th:  in  all  things 
to  be  humble— but  to  consult  God  and  judgment,  rather  than  man  and  pre- 
sent inclinations,  and  never  to  "daub  with  untempered  mortar,"  a  building 
erected  for  eternity.  • 

Sabbath,  March  5,  1815. — The  love  of  God  has  lately  so  reigned  in  my 
soul  that  I  cannot  discover  a  sinful  gratification  which  I  have  net  resolved  to 
forego,  a  necessary  cross  which  I  am  not  resolved  to  assume,  nor  a  required 
effort  which,  pro  tcmpore,  I  did  not  resolve  to  make.  A  sweet,  astonishing, 
melting,  humbling  sensation  of  forgiveness  for  my  past  crimes,  the  heinous- 
ness  of  which  is  enhanced  on  every  repetition,  was  divinely  impressed  on  my 
soul.  Oh!  I  cannot  doubt  the  infinitude  of  my  dear  Redeemer's  love  and 
grace.  I  now  have  clearer  and  more  extensive  views  of  the  gracious  nature 
of  the  gospel. 

I  am  reading  Baxter's  Saint's  Rest.  'Tis  refreshing;  'tis  edifying.  Why 
are  the  searching,  conscience-arresting  volumes  of  a  Baxter,  a  Flavel,  a 
Russel,  or  a  Whitfield,  left  unread  on  the  shelves  of  some  aged  Christians? 

Thursday  morning,  March  23,  1815.— Yesterday  read  a  part  of  Mrs.  Ne  wall's 
Journal,  after  her  embarkation  for  India;  and  a  part  of  Buchanan's  Researches. 
I  feel  myself  shamed  in  contemplating  the  character  of  that  lovely  female  aa 
a  Missionary,  in  contrast  with  my  own,  and  was  much  affected,  even  to  weep- 
ing, in  reading  that  part  of  Buchanan's  diary  which  described  the  condition  of 
the  dear  lambs  at  Tanjore,  who  have  but  a  few  rays  of  light,  to  show  them 
their  way  to  Zion,  though  their  eyes  are  opened  and  anxiously  waiting  for 
more;  who  have  a  relish  for  the  waters  of  life— yet  almost  destitute  of  any 
knowledge  of  their  source — who  are  hungry  for  the  blessed  Bible.  O  how  I 
wish  they  were  near,  that  I  might  give  them  one  of  the  three,  which  lie  on  my 
table  before  me — and  yet  whole  churches  are  destitute! 

The  Christian  in  every  situation  must  keep  up  the  line  of  distinction  be- 
tween himself  and  the  world,  he  must  most  sensibly  fed  it,  others  must  see  it. 
I  still  intend  to  associate  as  frequently  as  possible  with  pious  company.  The 
danger  which  I  receive  in  the  company  of  the  ungodly,  is  not  so  formidable 
as  that  which  offers  amongst  respectable  worldly  professors  of  religion.  I  feel 
less  restraint,  am  less  vigilant,  and  either  forget  or  neglect  too  often,  the  pecu- 
liar obligation  resting  upon  me,  to  watch  over,  and  reprove  any  misdemeanor 


24  APPENDIX. 

in  them,  as  I  would  correct  any  impropriety  of  my  own.  I  find  myself  this 
morning,  spiritually  in  the  hands  of  the  blessed  and  loving  Father  of  all.  Oh! 
that  I  may  always  rest  here.  Lord,  give  me  not  over  to  Satan  or  myself. — 
Glory,  and  honor,  and  dominion,  eternally  be  to  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost.  Amen. 

jSpril  8,  1815. — Wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  S dictated  in  a  style  of  gospel 

plainness.  I  have  recently  adopted  the  practice,  invariably  to  pray  over  my 
letters  while  writing  them;  and  often  when  sealed,  kneel  down  and  present 
them  to  the  Lord,  praying  Him  to  employ  their  contents  in  promoting  the 
glory  and  peace  of  Zion;  to  fill  the  soul  of  the  person  to  whom  they  are  ad- 
dressed, with  holiness  and  comfort;  and  to  blot  out,  by  some  dispensation  of 
his  providence,  any  error  of  thought  or  manner,  which  may  inadvertently 
have  found  a  place  in  them. 

Wednesday,  June  22,  1815. — Resolved  to  adopt  a  resolution  of  President 
Edwards,  to  study  the  sacred  Scriptures,  so  as  to  make  a  very  perceptible 
weekly  progress  in  the  knowledge  of  them. 

Thursday,  23d. — Find  on  perusing  President  Edwards'  Life,  and  parts  of 
his  diary,  that  I  can  transcribe  many  portions  of  the  last  into  my  own  Journal, 
and  adopt  some  part  of  the  first  as  answering  to  my  own.  When  I  bestow 
most  time  and  care  upon  the  Scriptures,  I  always  live  in  the  exercise  of  the 
most  faith. 

Resolved — Always  in  the  most  trifling  and  apparently  indifferent  thing, 
both  in  speaking,  thinking  and  writing,  most  strictly  to  adhere  to  truth,  as  I 
would  be  judged  at  last  by  "  the  God  of  truth." 

Wednesday,  June  28th.  1  ain  sensibly  embarrassed  in  my  progress  in  this, 
and  every  other  labor,  undertaken  for  God,  by  my  ignorance  of  the  Scriptures. 

Monday  morning,  July  3d,  1815.  God  has  visited  me  this  morning  in  my 
closet — 0!  how  sweet  His  presence!  how  awfully  sweet — How  large  His  grace; 
how  refreshing!  But  O,  how  holy!  how  sin-condemning. — I  often  think  of 
the  appellation  of  Jesus,  addressed  to  his  Father — "Holy."  What  a  word  was 
that  on  the  lips  of  Immanuel.  What  a  check  ought  the  example  of  our  Re- 
deemer in  addressing  the  Infinite  Majesty,  be  to  all  his  followers — who  like 
myself,  have  been  accustomed  to  rush  like  a  heedless  horse  into  the  midst  of 
the  mighty  and  mortal  contest! — 0,  my  God— may  I  always  feel  myself  in  the 
immediate  presence  of  the  Holy,  holy,  holy — God. 

July  4th.  Read  with  some  profit  a  part  of  Fuller's,  "  The  gospel  its  own 
witness."  Some  letters  and  sermons  by  the  same.  He  seems  grounded  in  the 
truth,  as  it  is  in  Jesus — to  have  known  in  his  heart  the  power  of  grace — but, 
I  should  judge,  not  to  have  been  the  man  of  prayer  that  Whitfield,  Edwards, 
and  Milner  were.  The  reasonings  are  good,  but  his  writings  want  solemnity, 
want  a  little  of  the  unction  which  sweetens;  and  gives  that  more  than  earthly 
savor  to  all  that  is  written  under  the  Spirit's  glow,  and  teaching:— the  propor- 
tion of  truly  evangelical  publications  among  the  "  Ocean  Tide"  of  religious 
books,  which  are  monthly  flowing  into  being,  ia  smaller  now,  I  believe,  than 


APPENDIX.  25 

fifty  years  ago.  Modern  writings  are  more  perspicuous — the  style  of  them, 
better  finished;  and  in  the  orthodox  part  of  them,  the  doctrines  of  Christianity 
are  stated  with  more  precision  and  accuracy. — There  is  in  our  recent  publica- 
tions more  of  the  frame,  but  less  of  the  finish  and  beauty  of  the  gospel,  than 
in  those  which  preceded  them — they  are  rather  addressed  to  the  understanding, 
than  to  the  heart  and  conscience.  The  reader  must  supply  from  his  own  bo- 
som this  deficiency  of  spirit,  or  expect  rather  to  find  his  head  crowded  with 
ideas,  than  his  soul  edified  with  the  word  of  truth. 

Friday,  July  21s^,  1815.  Have  had  my  faith  tried  with  respect  to  tem- 
poral provision  for  several  days  past.  Before  I  have  been  fully  aware  of  my 
error  and  my  folly,  I  have  several  times  found  myself  indulging,  in  a  criminal, 
unbelieving,  and  treacherous  anxiety  on  this  account;  notwithstanding  my  God 
had  always  appeared  for  my  relief  when  straitened,  and  notwithstanding  my 
resolutions  and  promises,  so  often  renewed,  to  distrust  his  watchful  provi- 
dence, again  to  sin  herein,  appears  doubly  criminal.  I  find  thi:Mnormng  that 
all  the  apparent  difficulties  are  seasonably  and  wholely  removed.  With  my 
grateful  thanksgivings  to  my  Redeemer  and  my  Portion,  how  ought  I  to  be  re- 
proved !  O  Lord,  Jehovah,  may  I  never  doubt  again. 

Resolve. — When  my  prospects  for  temporal  provision  are  most  clouded,  ever 
to  be  extremely  cautious,  then,  to  seek  more  exclusively,  and  pursue  more  ea- 
gerly after  the  things  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 


No.  2. 

The  following  resolutions  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Maine  Charity 
School  show  that  they  still  retained  their  entire  confidence  in 
Mr.  Ashmun's  integrity  and  piety. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of  Maine  Charity  School,  Hampden,  March 
26,  1819, 

Mr.  Professor  Ashmun  having  resigned  his  office  of  Professor  of  Classical 
Literature  in  this  Institution, 

Voted,  That  we  accept  his  resignation. 

Voted,  That  we  cordially  reciprocate  those  kind  feelings  expressed  in  the 
note  accompanying  the  resignation.  That  we  present  him  our  sincere  thanks 
for  his  faithful  and  efficient  exertions  while  in  our  employment;  and  that  we 
commend  him  to  the  blessing  of  God,  and  the  friendship  and  communion  of 

D 


26  APPENDIX. 

good  men;  assuring  him  that  he  will  ever  be  remembered  by  us  with  senti- 
ments of  affectionate  esteem,  and  that  we  shall  never  cease  to  feel  a  lively  in- 
terest in  his  welfare.  HARVEY  LOOMIS,  Secretary. 
A  true  copy. 

Attest:  HARVEY  LOOMIS,  Secretai-y. 

Dear  Sir:— It  is  hoped  you  will  continue  in  the  agency  of  the  Board,  and 
make  such  exertions  as  your  convenience  will  permit,  to  obtain  money  and 
books  for  the  Seminary.  HARVEY  LOOMIS. 


No.   3. 

The  following  papers,  (one  written  in  1825,  the  other  in 
1827,)  exhibit  strongly  the  views  of  Mr.  Ashmun  in  regard  to 
the  importance  of  Missionary  efforts  among  the  native  Africans, 
as  well  as  of  judicious  and  systematic  Religious  Instruction  for 
the  Colony. 

MONROVIA,  WESTERN  AFRICA, 

Sabbath  Day,  March  2Qth,  1825. 
To  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  dm.  Col.  Society: 

GENTLEMEN, — While  I  recollect  distinctly  the  sole  object  of  your  very  re- 
spectable Association,  is  the  establishment  of  a  Colony  in  this  country,  I  can- 
not forget  that  several  of  the  gentlemen  who  compose  the  Board  of  Direc- 
tion, are  practical  believers  in  the  Evangelical  Revelation  of  Jesus  Christ. 
In  this  character  you  will  pardon  the  liberty  I  take  of  addressing  you  on  a 
subject  to  which  as  individuals  you  cannot  be  insensible ;  and  which,  from 
the  distinguished  influence  conferred  by  situation  and  talents,  you  have  it  in  your 
power,  probably  more  than  many  others,  to  rouse  the  public  mind  to  action. 
I  mean  the  establishment  of  a  devout  and  able  Christian  Missionary,  with  the 
requisite  assistants,  in  the  vicinity  of  this  Colony. 

I  have  thought  that  the  intervals  of  public  worship  on  this  holy  day,  cannot 
be  more  usefully  or  acceptably  employed,  than  in  submitting  the  result  of  ob- 
servations made  in  relation  to  this  object,  during  a  residence  of  nearly  three 
years  on  the  vajry  theatre  of  the  idolatry,  superstition,  cruelty  and  ignorance, 
which  the  establishment  in  question,  by  the  appointment  of  God,  and  in  the 
judgment  of  man,  offers  the  only  means  of  curing. 

Following  the  train  of  my  own  reflections,  I  shall  submit  a  few  consider- 
ations : 


APPENDIX.  27 

1st.  On  the  moral,  religious  and  social  condition  of  our  neighbors,  which 
call  for  the  Christian  effort  proposed. 

2d.  On  the  facilities  which  seem  to  invite  to  it. 

3d.  On  the  most  proper  manner  of  commmencing,  founding  and  conducting 
the  mission. 

And  Lastly,  Its  effects. 

I.  The  general  condition  of  the  people  of  Western  Africa  has  been  the 
iheme  of  too  many  reports  and  treatises,  to  remain  at  this  period  a  matter  of 
inquiry  to  persons  of  reading  or  general  intelligence  in  any  country.  To- 
wards the  North,  the  intolerant  system  of  Mahometanism  prevails  to  the  ex- 
clusion even  of  the  less  offensive  delusion  of  Paganism.  From  the  Gambia, 
to  the  Sierra  Leone,  a  discordant  mixture  of  Moorish  austerities  and  Pagan  li- 
centioiisness,in  regard  to  religious  things,divides  the  professions  of  the  miserable 
people,  and  distinguishes  them  into  two  distinct  classes.  From  Sierra  Leone  to 
the  South-eastward,  far  below  Mesurado,  the  ever- varying  absurdities  of  the 
human  fancy,  goaded  to  action  by  an  inward  consciousness  of  guilt  and  fear, 
and  wholly  uninstructed  by  divine  revelation,  enslave  the  minds  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, and  sink  them  perhaps  to  the  lowest  state  of  debasement,  to  which  hu- 
man nature  can  descend. 

Those  who  inhabit  the  coast  have  heard  of  one  Supreme  God  ;  and  because 
they  have  no  belief  of  their  own,  have  adopted  that  great  truth  :  but  they 
pay  him  no  homage,  and  are  wholly  at  a  loss  what  sort  of  character  to  attri- 
bute to  him.  Some  pretend  to  admit  him  to  have  a  general  care  of  his  crea- 
tures ;  but  finding  a  difficulty  in  accounting  for  the  difference  in  their  situa- 
tion, they  generally  solve  it  by  concluding,  that  if  God  created  he  does  not 
govern  men ;  for  they  choose  rather  to  believe  that  God  has  nothing  to  do  in 
the  world,  than  that  he  acts  with  so  much  of  what  their  blindness  calls  parti- 
ality. They  have  no  forms  of  worship,  nor  do  they  commonly  appear  in  the 
least  to  act  from  the  belief  that  the  Supreme  God  will  so  far  notice  as  to  re- 
ward any  sacrifices  of  present  convenience  they  may  make  to  the  cause  of 
truth,  to  temperance,  or  moral  virtue.  But,  accustomed  only  to  the  grossest 
conceptions,  their  minds  can  hardly  frame  the  idea  of  so  sublime  and  recondite 
an  object  as  the  invisible  Spirit  of  the  universe ;  and  if  raised  to  so  unwonted 
a  height,  by  the  inquiries  of  others,  they  tend  by  their  own  stupid  weight 
down  to  their  ordinary  level  of  sensuality.  They,  like  all  other  human  beings, 
have  consciences  to  which  "  their  thoughts"  in  the  language  of  inspiration,  "are 
continually  accusing  or  else  excusing  one  another."  But  having  no  knowledge 
of  future  retributions,  their  inward  fears  wholly  confine  themselves  to  the  ap- 
prehension of  temporal  punishments.  From  this  constant  dread,  many  drag 
along  a  most  wretched  existence,  and  all  endeavor  to  deliver  themselves  by  a 
multitude  of  charms  carried  about  their  persons,  and  by  others,  erected  upon 
or  suspended  from  their  houses,  and  set  up  in  their  towns,  at  their  fisheries,  and 
on  their  most  frequented  roads.  These,  which  go  by  the  common  name  of 
fetishes,  are  thought  to  derive  little  or  no  value  from  the  materials  of  wnich 


28  APPENDIX. 

they  are  formed,  but  wholly  from  the  skill  employed  in  compounding  them, 
and  the  reputation  of  the  fabricators  and  venders  of  them.  A  distinct  order  of 
men,  held  in  high  repute,  acquire  all  the  comforts  of  rude  and  savage  life, 
by  trading  in  these  articles,  on  the  credulity  of  the  people.  The  most  en- 
lightened among  them  are  commonly  the  most  superstitious— as  even  their 
wise  men,  are  but  sufficiently  enlightened  to  see  their  need  of  something 
adapted  to  religious  beings  ;  of  which  the  body  of  all  the  people  are  too  brutish 
and  grovelling  in  their  mental  character,  to  be  able  to  form,  it  would  seem, 
any  comprehension  at  all. 

Children,  'till  arrived  nearly  to  an  age  to  act  for  themselves,  receive  as  far 
as  I  have  learnt,  no  instruction  whatever  ;  nor  even  then,  from  their  parents. 
But  the  boys  are  led  into  a  deep  and  solitary  forest,  where  persons  of  age 
and  reputed  sagacity,  and  commonly  with  injunctions  of  perpetual  secrecy, 
enforced  by  the  severest  penalties,  impart  to  them;  together  with  many  useless, 
perhaps,  pernicious  mysteries,  instructions  relating  to  the  superstitions,  the 
laws  and  the  policy  of  the  country,  and,  it  is  said,  of  the  trade  and  more  or- 
dinary business  of  manhood.  They  remain  under  this  tuition,  commonly 
about  half  the  season  ;  and  some  have  the  privilege  of  several  times  separating 
themselves  in  the  course  of  their  lives  to  receive  these  instructions. 

The  girls  undergo  a  similar  rustication  at  the  proper  time  of  life,  and  are 
taught  what  it  is  supposed  concerns  them  most  to  understand  in  the  narrow 
sphere  of  duty  to  which  custom  restricts  them  in  life. 

Children  very  seldom  receive  parental  correction,  and  are  seldom  restrained 
in  any  course  to  which  their  passions  and  propensions  incline  them.  Lying, 
petty  thefts,  and  the  entire  catalogue  of  childish  vices  and  follies  when  seen  in 
children,  only  excite  merriment,  as  long  as  the  consequences  are  not  seriously 
injurious  to  themselves3  or  others.  The  adult  is  commonly  devoid  of  moral 
principle  altogether.  The  strongest  minds  among  them,  I  observe,  see 
farthest  the  inconvenience  of  dishonesty,  intemperance  and  other  vices,  and 
endeavor  in  a  few  instances  to  avoid,  and  in  all,  to  conceal  them.  The  least 
intelligent,  are  uniformly  the  most  openly  and  the  most  absolutely  vicious  and 
unprincipled. 

Polygamy  and  domestic  slavery,  it  is  well  known,  are  as  universal  as  the 
scanty  means  of  the  people  will  permit.  And  a  licentiousness  of  practice 
which  none— not  the  worst  part  of  any  civilized  community  on  earth  can  parallel, 
gives  a  hellish  consummation  to  the  frightful  deformity  imparted  by  sin  to  the 
moral  aspect  of  these  tribes.  There  is  not  a  feature  of  their  social  character, 
but  proves  them  abandoned  to  that  depravity,  the  common  inheritance  of 
apostate  man,  which  knows  no  remedy  but  the  Gospel  of  the  Grace  of 
God.  They  are  degraded  to  the  condition  nearly  of  the  better  sort  of  brutrs 
in  human  form;  discovering  at  the  same  time,  the  gleamings  of  that  intelli- 
gent soul  which  never  dies.  They  are  still  the  objects  of  the  redeeming  love,ar"> 
daily  care  of  the  Christian's  Saviour.  They  are  the  materials  of  which  faitu 
assures  the  children  of  God,  that  the  temple  of  Jehovah  in  which  his  glory 


APPENDIX.  29 

will  blaze  for  ever,  is  destined  to  be  built — Where  sin  has  abounded,  grace 
is  much  more  to  abound.  This  is  an  axiom  in  the  economy  of  the  Divine 
Mercy;  and  therefore,  the  Christian  World  may  hope  yet  for  Africa.  But  to 
raise  these  people  by  any  other  means  than  the  renovating  power  of  the  Spirit 
of  God  administered  as  himself  has  limited  the  holy  influence,  through  the 
preaching  and  reception  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Divine  Saviour,  is  an  absurdity, 
which  all  experience  exposes,  and  which  their  own  accumulating  suffering  for 
many  thousand  years  confirms ;  and  to  expect  it  is  to  consign  them  deliberately 
against  the  express  law  of  providence  to  certain  destruction. 

II.  But  let  us  enquire  whether  there  are  any  circumstances  suited  to  invite 
the  attention  of  Missionary  Societies,  and  direct  their  efforts  to  these  people, 
rather  than  to  any  other  particular  portion  of  the  Pagan  World  ?  There  is  in 
my  opinion  a  concurrence  of  these  propitious  circumstances,  which  I  cannot 
help  regarding  as  the  signal  of  a  favoring  providence  held  out  to  the  Christian 
World,  particularly  to  the  American  Churches,  to  announce  the  grand  and 
glorious  crisis. 

Such  is  to  be  regarded  the  firm  and  peaceful  establishment  of  a  civilized 
and  Christian  community,  in  the  very  bosom  and  centre  of  all  this  barbarism. 
There  are  hundreds  whose  prayers  and  whose  influence  will  gladly  be  extend- 
ed to  the  holy  Missionary  :  he  and  his  assistants  may  derive  from  the  vicinity 
of  what  the  native  African  considers  as  a  powerful  settlement,  all  the  security 
and  protection  which  he  can  desire  from  this  arm  of  mortals.  His  necessary 
intercourse  with  the  Colony  will  blunt,  if  not  exclude  the  sense  of  exile  from 
home,  country  and  civilized  life.  In  case  of  abandonment  or  opposition  from 
the  poor  objects  of  his  benevolent  labors,  he  may  obtain  temporary  aid  from 
hence,  and  fiad  an  asylum  in  extremities.  But  it  is  perfectly  easy  for  the 
Government  of  the  Colony  to  obtain  of  all  the  Kings  in  the  neighborhood  a 
friendly  stipulation  in  favor  of  the  Mission,  and  exact  a  strict  adherence  to 
such  stipulation. 

A  second  circumstance  highly  favorable  to  the  undertaking,  is  the  profound 
peace  which  prevails  at  this  time  between  all  the  tribes  and  the  colony, 
and  between  the  respective  tribes.  Our  settlement  was  established  in  blood. 
The  struggle  on  our  part,  the  effort  on  that  of  the  natives,  was  severe  and  vio- 
lent ;  but  the  issue  was  such  as  to  terminate  their  hostile  machinations,  it  is 
believed  totally,  and  for  ever.  We  were  more  than  two  years  since,  regarded 
as  invincible  by  any  native  force  :  and  the  single  policy  now  becoming  general 
among  our  neighbors,  is  to  cultivate  the  most  amicable  relations  with  the 
Colony.  The  temple  of  Janus  is  closed,  and  who  shall  say  that  the  Augustan 
period  of  this  part  of  Africa  has  not  arrived  ;  and  who  will  withhold  from  it 
its  long  predicted  Saviour? 

The  natives  have  universally  a  most  affecting  persuasion  of  the  superiority  of 
white  men.  They  see  the  superior  perfection  of  our  fabrics,  our  arts,  our  ju- 
risprudence, our  mental  culture,  and  I  can  now  say  it,  thanks  to  the  power  of 
religion  on  the  minds  of  many  of  our  colonists,  of  our  moral  character.  Our 


30  APPENDIX. 

worship  is  serious  and  impressive,  beyond  any  thing  they  ever  witness  among 
themselves,  and  they  acknowledge  generally  the  superiority  of  our  religion,  and 
almost  wish  themselves  white  (or  civilized)  men,  that  they  might  adopt  it, 
for  they  all  retain  the  absurd  idea,  that  however  excellent  or  true  our  religion 
and  institutions,  they  are  doomed  to  understand  and  be  benefitted  by  none  ex- 
cept their  own. 

A  fourth  facility  which  few  pagan  tribes  offer  to  the  American  Missionary,  is 
to  be  found  in  the  circumstance,  that  every  head  man  around  us,  and  hundreds 
of  their  people  speak,  and  can  be  made  to  understand  our  language  without 
an  interpreter.  He  may,  immediately  on  arriving  in  the  country  begin  his 
work,  and  while  acquiring  the  language,  render  himself  nearly  as  useful  as  af- 
terwards. 

I  might  mention  the  cheapness  of  living,  and  the  small  expense  of  main- 
taining a  plain  industrious  missionary  family,  in  this  country — the  tractable 
and  mild  natural  dispositions  of  the  poor  Africans — the  absence  of  every  thing 
resembling  intolerance  in  the  systems  of  superstition  by  which  they  are  enslav- 
ed— the  distance  of  this  country  from  that  of  the  persecuting  Moors,  and  the  ani- 
mating successes  which  have  attended  the  simple  preaching  of  the  gospel,  and 
the  other  related  means  of  religious  instruction,  at  Sierra  Leone,  and  in  the 
colony  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope ;  and  these  circumstances  and  facts,  must 
have  their  weight  with  all  who  wish  well  enough  to  the  cause,  to  engage  them- 
selves, or  others  in  it.  But  I  cannot  enlarge. 

III.  /  will  make  a  few  suggestions  on  the  most  proper  manner  of  commencing, 
founding,  and  conducting  the  mission. 

I  cannot  hesitate  to  say,  that  the  Missionary,  or  Principal  of  the  proposed 
establishment,  ought  of  preference  to  be  a  white  man.  Some  pf  the  reasons 
for  this  opinion  have  been  given.  Others  will  readily  occur.  He  ought  to  be 
an  honest,  holy,  and  eminently  disinterested  person,  neither  old,  nor  too  young. 
To  acquire  the  entire  confidence  of  the  natives,  and  do  justice  to  the  responsi- 
ble undertaking,  he  ought  to  engage  for  life,  and  make  his  tomb  in  Africa.  He 
must  love  the  employment,  and  appear  to  love  it,  and  have  no  pleasure  so  great, 
as  that  of  doing  good  to  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men.  Science,  prudence,  hu- 
mility, and  a  good  constitution  are  all  useful  auxiliaries,  and  he  should  not  be 
without  them.  Let  him  repair  to  the  colony — spend  half  the  first  year,  with 
whatever  assistants  and  family  he  has,  in  the  settlement.  The  airy  and  salu- 
brious settlement  of  Thompson-Town,  forming  on  the  summit  of  our  moun- 
tain, would  serve  better  than  probably  any  other  situation  in  Western  Africa 
to  form  his  habit  to  the  climate. 

Here  he  might  be  extensively  useful,  and  fully  employed  among  the  re -cap- 
tured Africans,  in  acquiring  the  language,  obtaining  an  accurate  knowledge 
of  the  country,  and  manners,  &c. ,  of  the  inhabitants,  and  in  arranging  the  plan 
of  his  future  operations,  collecting  the  materials,  and  otherwise  actually  forward- 
ing the  building  of  the  missionary  houses. 

The  centre  of  a  numerous  population  is  to  be  found  on  the  banks  of  the 


APPENDIX.  31 

River  St.  Paul's,  from  five  to  ten  miles  above  its  mouth.  Here,  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  land  can  be  obtained.  The  country  is  dry— the  situation  airy  and 
delightful,  and  the  inhabitants  less  engaged  in  the  slave  trade,  and  more  inde- 
pendent of  its  gains  for  a  subsistence,  than  nearer  the  sea-board. 

The  King,  Peter  Bromley,  has  actually  consented  to  give  the  land,  and  af- 
ford protection  to  any  good  white  man,  recommended  by  the  Governor  of  the 
Colony,  who  shall  come  to  spend  his  life  in  teaching  his  people.  There  would 
be  no  difficulty  in  procuring  the  most  eligible  situation. 

Let  the  Missionary  collect  around  him  a  numerous  family,  entirely  separate 
and  a  little  remote,  from  any  native  town.  Here  let  him  introduce  the  wor- 
ship of  God — establish,  or  rather  render  the  whole  establishment,  a  school, 
in  which  the  word  of  God  shall  be  taught  and  be  read  to  all,  but  especially  to 
children,  in  the  English  language.  The  members  of  the  family  must  all  be 
taught  and  required  daily  to  labor  at  stated  periods,  and  made  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible to  support  themselves  in  a  simple  plain  style  ;  not  deviating  too  much  at 
first,  from  that,  to  which  all  are  accustomed. — The  buildings  may  also  be  of 
the  country  construction,  gradually  introducing  in  future  erections,  a  more  ex- 
pensive and  permanent  style.  The  Agricultural  and  other  improvements, 
should  proceed  from  the  present  simple  methods,  to  those  which  are  more  ar- 
tificial. Once  founded,  and  conducted  judiciously  for  a  few  years,  the  mission 
would  prove  a  generating  point  of  other  similar  establishments,  till,  with  the 
blessing  of  Almighty  God,  whose  work  alone  it  is,  the  knowledge  and  profes- 
sion of  Christianity,  shall  become  as  general,  as  the  abominable  arid  vile 
rites  of  Paganism  at  the  present  time. 

Such  is  the  ultimate  and  grand  effect  to  be  expected,  and  to  be  prayed  for— 
But  in  closing  this  paper,  I  will  enumerate — 

IV.  Lastly,  some  other  fruits  of  such  an  establishment  of  a  most  gratifying 
nature,  and  of  a  more  immediate  occurrence. 

The  first  will  be  to  preserve  our  neighbours  from  adopting  the  vices,  with- 
out the  virtues  of  civilization.  For  this  colony,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  already  has, 
and  ever  must  have,  strong  samples  of  both.  Vice  can  be  propagated  with- 
out instruction.  But  who  ever  heard  of  the  moral  and  social  virtues  being 
taken  up  by  uninstructed  Pagans,  merely  from  the  example  of  a  few  good  men  ? 
Every  month's  experience  proves  to  me  that  our  neighbours  are  corrupted 
by  the  influence  of  bad  example,  andxlerive  no  benefit  from  the  good,  that  are 
set  them  in  the  colony.  The  Mission  will  in  part,  cure  this  evil.  It  will  af- 
ford no  vicious  examples,  and  will  fortify  the  good  with  religious  and  moral  in- 
struction. 

Another  effect  will  be  in  some  measure,  to  prevent  the  vicious  examples  of 
the  natives  from  re-acting  upon  the  colony,  and  corrupting  the  morals,  and  de- 
basing the  views,  especially  of  our  young  people. 

A  faithful  Missionary  must  soon  possess  himself  of  the  confidence  of  the 
tribes.  Through  his  mediation,  differences  between  them  and  the  colony,  may, 
in  most  cases,  be  composed,  or  prevented  altogether.  Such  an  establishment 


32  APPENDIX. 

.  I  consider  as  forming  the  best  security  and  pledge  of  peace  and  friendship,  be- 
tween the  natives  and  this  colony. — These  advantages,  let  it  be  in  conclusion 
recollected,  are  only  secondary  to  the  great  end  of  saving  a  multitude  of  immor- 
tal beings  from  the  power  of  sin,  and  the  wrath  of  God :  and  the  rescue  of 
new  territories  from  the  power  of  Satan,  for  the  Son  of  God  to  rule  by  his 
grace  to  the  end  of  time.  This  is  the  grand  argument  on  which  this  humble 
appeal  for  the  African  tribes  near  us,  chiefly  relies  for  success.  It  is  respect- 
fully submitted  to  all  who  can  feel  its  force— and  may  the  blessing  of  God  at- 
tend it.  J.  A. 

CALDWELL,  MAY  20,  1827. 

DEAR  SIR  :— While  we  recollect  with  gratitude  the  signal  success  with 
which  Divine  Provide-nce  has  crowned  the  arduous  undertaking  of  the  Ameri- 
can Colonization  Society,  I  pray  it  may  not  be  forgotten  that  that  success  is 
only  partial;  and  that  there  are  to  be  moral  effects  wrought  on  the  great 
body  of  the  settlers  after  their  establishment  in  this  country,  without  which, 
all  that  has  been — all  that  can  be  accomplished,  even  with  the  national  patron- 
age, must  still  leave  the  work  incomplete,  and  short  of  our  early  hopes. 

The  enemies  of  the  whole  scheme  say,  and  say  truly  (fas  est  etiam  ab  hoste 
doceri),  that  "Such  is  the  supineness  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  character  '. 
of  nine-tenths  of  the  subjects  of  colonization,  that  without  vast  improvement, 
they  cannot  become  the  materials  of  a  civil  society,  blest  with  free  institutions 
and  the  right  of  self-government." 

And  here,  my  dear  Sir,  is  the  weak  point  of  our  cause;  here,  the  arguments 
of  our  adversaries,  which,  on  most  subjects  connected  with  colonization,  are 
palpably  inconclusive,  become  seriously  weighty  and  pertinent. 

I  flatter  myself  that  I  see  causes  already  at  work,  which  must,  in  time, 
effectuate  so  much  of  the  grand  enterprise  as  consists  in  the  removal  of  the 
annual  increase,  at  least,  of  all  the  free  colored  population  of  the  United  States, 
and  their  permanent  settlement  in  this  country.  But,  fixed  here,  what  is  their 
situation,  on  the  supposition  which  you  will  permit  me,  by  way  of  illustration, 
to  adopt — That  NO  effectual  means  for  their  moral  improvement  are  employed? 

In  the  proportion  of  6  out  of  10,  the  emigrants  may  be  expected  to  be  IL- 
LITERATE. And,  when  we  consider  that  most  of  the  actual  means  of  moral 
and  intellectual  improvement,  the  strongest  motives  which  affect  the  con- 
science, and  stir  the  soul  to  action;  and  those  impressions,  which,  more  than 
any  others,  are  the  germs  and  fostering  soil  of  virtuous  principles  in  the  hu- 
man character:  when  we  consider  that  all  these  ennobling  influences  are,  in 
this  age,  derived  to  such  as  feel  them,  more  through  the  medium  of  letters — 
from  tracts,  periodicals,  religious  books,  and  the  Bible,  than  from  all  other 
sources ;  think,  my  dear  sir,  under  what  a  deplorable  disadvantage  and 
calamity,  that  rational  creature  in  human  form  labors,  who  never  drew  from 
this  store-house,  directly,  one  motive  to  moral  action — one  countercheck  to  his 
appetites  and  depravity— who  cannot  read  a  precept  of  his  Bible—a  law  of 


APPENDIX. 


33 


the  community  he  lives  in— a  page  of  all  those  excellent  little  manuals  which 
are  in  such  wide  circulation,  and  which  bring  home  to  every  man's  bosom 
and  fireside,  particularly  of  the  poor,  the  principles,  the  duties,  examples  and 
enjoyments  of  Christianity!  What  must  be  the  moral  state  of  a  society  com- 
posed, in  proportion  of  three  and  four  to  one,  of  such  individuals  ?  And  such, 
my  dear  sir,  is  the  picture ;  it  begins  to  develope  itself  already,  of  a  society 
springing  into  existence  in  the  settlement  of  this  Colony. 

Your  emigrants,  I  must  also  assume  to  be  generally,  immoral. 

I  do  not  give  this  character  to  the  actual  settlers.  There  are  reasons  of  a 
particular  nature,  and  which  cannot  apply  to  the  great  body  of  future  emi- 
grants, why  the  first  should  not  deserve  it.  Nor  do  I  believe  that  the  immorality, 
however  deplorable,  of  the  free  blacks  of  America,  considered  as  a  race  of 
men,  is  of  that  matured  and  positive  character  which  the  strong  and  absolute 
language  sometimes  employed  on  this  topic,  would  ascribe  to  them.  Their 
vices  are  certainly  of  a  low  order,  often  extremely  troublesome,  and  always 
disgusting.  But  their  depravity,  both  in  respect  to  its  degree,  and  its  form, 
may  be  accounted  for,  (the  corruption  of  our  common  nature  always  consider- 
ed,) from  their  circumstances.  The  faults  of  their  character  are  nearly  all  of 
a  negative  kind,  and  may  be  more  properly  denominated  moral  defects,  than 
vices. 

Take  a  colored  man  from  the  mass  of  that  population  in  America — sup- 
pose him  to  commit  a  fault,  it  may  be  an  act  of  personal  violence.  Inquire 
into  the  circumstances.  It  was  an  act  of  revenge  or  passion.  I  allow  it ;  and 
that  it  was  vicious  in  its  own  nature,  and  a  punishable  offence,  by  the  laws  of 
God  and  man.  But,  more  nearly  investigate  the  circumstance,  and  analyse 
the  motives  of  the  act;  and  you  will  ascertain  it  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  to 
possess  little  or  nothing  of  that  sturdy  aforethought  character,  which  belongs 
to  the  higher  order  of  crime.  It  was  the  offspring  of  a  blind  malice,  acting 
rather  without,  than  in  violation  of,  perceptible  moral  restraints.  No  felt  prin- 
ciple of  moral  conduct  was  sacrificed  to  the  vindictive  impulse,  which  pro- 
duced the  act ;  because  no  such  principle  had  ever  been  implanted  and 
cherished  in  his  bosom.  It  is  astonishing,  how  vague,  general,  and  un- 
felt,  are  the  ideas  of  right  and  wrong,  which  have  a  faint  and  floating 
existence  in  the  minds  of  a  majority  of  this  uncultivated  race  of  men.  And 
even  for  the  best  of  them,  large  allowances  must,  in  the  estimate  of  their 
moral  conduct,  be  placed  to  the  account  of  this  want  of  the  early  and  ef- 
fectual inculcation  cf  moral  and  religious  principles.  * 

After  this  explanation,  I  must  renew  the  painful  inference,  that  the  emi- 
grants to  this  country  mil  bring  with  them  no  established  moral  habits. 

Imagine,  then,  a  large  community,  and  this  community  laid  at  the  founda- 
tion of  a  future  empire,  without  upright  moral  habits,  and  without  operative 
moral  principles.  The  mutual  want  of  confidence  among  the  members,  must, 
in  a  short  time,  dissolve  so  far  the  social  tie,  as  to  draw  around  the  several 
families  a  line  of  demarcation,  separating  them  from  each  other,  and  establish- 

E 


34  APPENDIX. 

ing  in  each  a  separate  interest,  independent  of,  and  in  most  instances  adverse 
to.  the  common  interest.  Domestic  discord,  and  intestine  strife  succeed.- 
Property,  liberty,  life,  are  without  security — are  violated — and  their  violation 
goes  unpunished,  and  unredressed. 

I  have  here  traced  the  consequences  of  immorality  to  the  ruin  of  this  Colo- 
ny, from  the  single  property  there  is  in  vice  to  destroy  all  social  confidence. 
•It  must  operate  to  the  same  end  by  a  thousand  other  ways,  all  equally  direct, 
and  equally  certain.  And  is  the  inevitable  curse  of  Heaven  on  such  a  people 
nothing  to  be  regarded  ?  Rather  will  it  not  prove  a  brazen  bar  in  the  road  of 
their  prosperity,  which  the  wisdom  of  mortals  cannot  evade — nor  the  united 
strength  of  a  world  remove  ? 

These  emigrants,  from  the  hour  of  their  arrival  in  Africa,  are  also  acted 
upon  by  the  vitiating  example  of  the  natives  of  this  country.  The  amount 
and  effects  of  this  influence  I  fear,  are  generally  and  egregiously  underrated. 
It  is  not  known  to  every  one  how  little  difference  can  be  perceived  in  the 
measure  of  intellect  possessed  by  an  illiterate  rustic  from  the  United  States, 
and  a  sprightly  native  of  the  coast.  It  may  not  be  easily  credited ;  but  the 
fact  certainly  is,  that  the  advantage  is,  oftenest,  clearly  on  the  side  of  the 
latter.  The  sameness  of  color,  and  the  corresponding  characteristics  to  be 
expected  in  different  portions  of  the  same  race,  give  to  the  example  of  the 
natives  a  power  and  influence  over  the  colonists  as  extensive  as  it  is  corrupt- 
ing. For,  it  must  not  be  suppressed,  however  the  fact  may  be  at  variance  with 
the  first  impressions  from  which  most  African  Journalists  have  allowed  them- 
selves to  sketch  the  character  of  the  natives,  That  it  is  vicious  and  contamina- 
ting in  the  last  degree.  I  have  often  expressed  my  doubt,  whether  the  simple 
idea  of  moral  justice,  as  we  conceive  it  from  the  early  dawn  of  reason,  has  a 
place  in  the  thoughts  of  a  pagan  African.  As  a  practical  principle  of  mo- 
rality, I  am  sure  that  no  such  sentiment  obtains  in  the  breasts  of  five  Africans 
within  my  acquaintance.  A  selfishness  which  prostrates  every  consideration 
of  another's  good  ;  a  habit  of  dishonest  dealing,  of  which  nothing  short  of  un- 
remitting, untiring  vigilance,  can  avert  the  consequences ;  an  unlimited  in- 
dulgence of  the  appetites ;  and  the  labored  excitement  and  unbounded  grati- 
fication of  lust  the  most  unbridled  and  beastly— these  are  the  ingredients  of 
the  African  character.  And,  however  revolting,  however,  on  occasion,  con- 
cealed, by  an  assumed  decency  of  demeanor,  such  is  the  common  character 
of  all ;  and  it  operates  with  all  the  power  of  an  ever-present  example  on  the 
Colonists,  (and  with  many  it  is  not  without  its  facinations,*)  from  the  mo- 

*  It  is  very  true  of  the  grosser  and  shocking  vices,  what  Pope  erroneously 
affirms  of  wickedness  in  general,  that 

"  Vice  is  a  monster  of  so  frightful  mien, 
"  As,  to  be  hated,  needs  but  be  seen  ; 
"  But  grown  too  oft  familiar  with  her  face, 
"  We  first  endure,  then  pity,  then  embrace." 


APPENDIX.  35 

ment  of  their  arrival  in  Africa.  It  must  produce  its  effects.  It  has  produced 
them.  And  without  a  powerful  counteracting  agency,  it  must,  at  no  great 
distance  of  time,  as  surely  leaven  the  whole  mass,  as  human  nature  shall  con- 
tinue what  it  is. 

I  will  only  add  one  more  instance  of  the  change,  which  the  condition  of 
emigrants  is  obliged  to  undergo,  in  consequence  of  their  removal  to  this 
country,  tending  greatly  to  confirm  and  assist  their  moral  degeneracy.  In 
the  United  States,  they  are  surrounded  with  examples  of  piety  and  moral  ex- 
cellence, in  persons  whom  their  relative  rank  and  condition  in  life,  engages 
them  to  respect,  and  even  to  imitate.  Such  examples  not  only  allure  by  their 
excellence ;  but  control  by  their  authority ;  and  the  whole  effect  is  of  the 
best  and  happiest  kind.  But,  in  Africa,  few  or  no  such  examples  are  present — 
no  such  influence  is  felt  or  obeyed.  Colonists  thus  suffer  a  double  disadvan- 
tage— are  subjected  to  all  that  is  contaminating  in  the  practices  of  the  natives; 
at  the  same  time  that  they  have  passed  beyond  the  reach  of  the  corrective  ex- 
ample of  enlightened  Christians.  This  I  admit  to  be  theory.  But  is  it  not  theory 
based  on  acknowledged  facts  ?  God  grant  it  may  never  become  history — the 
history  of  this  Colony. 

Permit  me  here  to  offer  a  slight  but  faithful  sketch  of  the  actual  moral 
state  of  one  of  the  settlements  of  the  Colony. 

The  new  settlement  of  Caldwell  offers  more  and  truer  examples  than  Monro- 
via, of  the  manner  in  which  the  great  body  of  the  emigrants  are  likely  to  be 
morally  affected  by  their  new  situation — the  settlers  here  agreeing  more  nearly 
in  character  with  the  great  body  of  colored  people  in  the  United  States,  than 
their  more  select  predecessors.  And  it  is  here  that  the  evils  of  which  my 
fears  are  prophetic,  are  already  beginning  the  most  plainly  to  discover  them- 
selves. 

The  settlement  reaches  along  both  rivers,  a  distance  about  two  miles.  A 
single  individual,  whose  age  and  sincere  piety  certainly  render  him  in  many 
respects  useful,  assisted  by  some  two  or  three  utterly  illiterate  exhorters,  whose 
moral  influence  from  causes  different  from  simple  ignorance,  is  a  cypher;  is 
their  only  instructer,  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  improvement  of  their  mind, 
to  the  correction  and  regulation  of  their  moral  practice,  the  sanctification  of 
their  hearts,  and  the  salvation  of  their  souls.  Read,  they  cannot— nor  are 
they  capable  of  intent  and  steady  thinking.  No  stirring  changes,  or  variety 
of  arousing  incidents — but  the  even  tenor  of  a  secluded,  rustic  life,  and  the 
daily  vicissitude  of  rough  labor,  and  sound  sleep,  weave  the  simple  web  of 
weekly,  monthly,  and  annual  history.  It  is  no  absurd  definition  of  human 
nature  which  I  once  heard  no  ordinary  adept  in  it  use  with  great  sincerity  and 
emphasis,  that  man,  enumerating  his  other  distinctive  qualities,  is  an  indolent 
animal — never  to  be  aroused  from  the  most  lifeless  torpor,  but  by  the  force  of 
some  sort  of  necessity.  Now,  of  these  people,  the  physical  necessities  are 
quite  within  the  reach  of  a  little  hard  work,  which  can  be,  and  is,  accom- 
plished without  mental  effort.  And.  really,  they  have  not  mind  and  thought 


36  APPENDIX. 

enough,  to  set  mind  and  thought  to  work.  In  better  language,  their  mind* 
are  quite  too  uncultivated,  their  faculties  quite  too  imperfectly  developed,  to 
supply  moral  motives  for  the  exertion  of  either.  It  must  be  an  influence  from 
without,  motives  applied  and  forced  upon  them  by  the  benevolent  care  and 
labors  of  others,  which  is  to  arouse  and  engage  them  in  the  great  and  princi- 
pal work  of  life — the  cultivation  of  their  rational  and  immortal  natures.  The 
precepts  and  doctrines  of  Jesus  Christ,  from  Alpha  to  Omega,  must  be  incul- 
cated with  Apostolical  earnestness  and  perseverance,  and  I  may  add,  with 
pedagogical  precision,  too,  before  they  can  become  Christians.  Example,  pre- 
cept— all  that  can  be  urged  and  displayed  of  both,  by  enlightened  and  indefati- 
gable instructers,  is  necessary  to  supply  motives  of  moral  virtue,  undo  in- 
veterate habits  of  moral  indolence — enlighten  and  awaken  the  slumbering 
conscience  to  a  quick  sense  of  moral  justice,  and  moral  obligation  ;  and  en- 
gage the  soul  in  the  active  discharge  of  moral  duties. 

But,  not  one  in  five  of  these  people,  habitually  attend,  even  on  Sundays, 
such  religious  instruction  as  they  possess.  And  when  they  do  occasionally 
place  themselves  under  the  sound  of  their  preacher's  voice— alas  !  how  can 
it  profit  them  ?  Their  minds  have  not  soil  enough,  I  repeat,  for  the  seeds 
even  of  religious  knowledge  to  grow  in.  They  sit  like  so  many  inanimate 
stocks,  or  if  acted  upon  at  all,  and  the  religious  part  of  them  often  are,  it  is 
chiefly  in  the  way  of  the  excitement  of  their  animal  spirits— at  best  of  their  re- 
ligious  feelings.  Mere  sermon-hearing  on  Sundays,  so  confirmed  is  their  mental 
apathy,  so  unable  to  command  and  wield  their  faculties,  so  fixed  their  habit 
of  inattention, — in  a  word,  so  incapable  of  reflection,  almost  of  thinking,  are 
they,  that  mere  sermon-hearing  on  Sundays,  bring  the  whole  population  to 
attend,  and  let  the  sermons  be  ever  so  sound,  the  language  ever  so  intelligible 
and  precise,  and  the  sentiment  ever  so  rich,  cannot  regenerate  their  mental 
habit,  and  make  them  either  intelligent  Christians,  or  enlightened  Citizens. 
But  what  do  these  sermons,  abstracting  the  pathos,  and,  generally,  the  good 
intentions,  and  good  feelings  of  the  preacher — what  does  all  the  rest  of 

these  performances  amount  to  ?    "  Vox  et  "  absolutely  nothing,  my 

dear  sir,  that  can  instruct  the  understanding — nothing  that  can  implant  in  the 
mind  any  solid  or  abiding  motive  of  exertion  or  piety — nothing  that  shall  be- 
come the  radical  spring  of  a  regenerated  and  consistent  moral  or  Christian 
character.  Consequently,  such  means  form — rather,  God  employs  them  to 
form — no  such  characters.  People  of  this  class  whom  we  call,  and  hope  to  be, 
pious,  do  not  possess  such  characters.  There  is  nothing  in  this  settlement  to 
originate  them— nothing  to  foster  them— perhaps,  not  a  heart  that  can  desire, 
or  a  mind  that  can  imagine  them.  But,  as  I  have  before  said,  and  must  be  in- 
dulged in  repeating,  however  defective  and  unprofitable  the  means  of  moral 
improvement  enjoyed  by  these  people,  even  these  are  treated  with  general 
neglect  and  inattention. 

And  what  is  to  arouse  them  from  this  torpor  ?  I  can  only  conceive  of  one 
of  two  causes  which  is  able  to  do  it :  a  direct  miracle  of  the  Almighty's 


APPENDIX.  37 

power— which  I  do  not  expect,  and  am  not  authorized  to  pray  for ;  or  His 
Divine  blessing  on  such  faithfully  applied  human  means  as  the  wisdom  of  God, 
and  the  moral  history  of  mankind,  unite  to  prescribe.  And,  the  Christian 
Ministry  supplies  these  means.  Considered  in  their  own  nature,  and  sepa- 
rately from  their  sanctifying  efficacy,  and  the  promised  co-operation  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  if  the  doctrines  of  the  Saviour,  and  the  Ministry  of  Christian 
Teachers,  can  be  so  considered,  these  are,  of  all  the  means  of  arousing  hu- 
man nature,  and  setting  the  heart  and  understanding — body  and  soul — in  ac- 
tion, beyond  comparison  the  most  certain  and  the  most  effectual. 

How  it  is  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  I  have  only  heard  and  read.  But  in 
this  Colony,  I  have  seen  the  direct  and  inseparable  connexion  of  Christianity, 
taking  in  its  doctrines,  its  worship,  and  its  practical  fruits — with- all  that  is 
•stable,  all  that  is  patriotic,  all  that  is  mentally  and  morally  improving,  all  that 
is  exalting  to  human  nature — in  a  word,  all  that  is  good  and  excellent  among  us. 

There  is  no  room  for  speculation  on  this  point — no  room  for  reasoning. 
Premises  and  conclusion  are  both  embodied  in  one  and  the  same  obvious  fact. 
There  is  a  pious  family,  and  there  stands  a  firm  pillar  of  the  Colony.  In- 
dustry, intelligence,  order,  competency  and  peace,  are  its  characteristics. 
There  is  a  family  without  religion.  I  have  only  to  reverse  the  characteristics 
of  the  first,  and  that  family  is  described. 

We  have  tried  the  effects  of  schools.  These  are  by  no  means  so  well  con- 
ducted as  they  should  be.  Still  their  influence  is  salutary.  But  these  effects 
are  partial  and  inadequate,  operating  only  on  the  child,  while  the  parents  are 
left  unprofited.  And  common  schools  have  never  been  known  to  exert  a 
moral  power  over  children  sufficient  to  counteract  and  do  away  the  demoral- 
izing influence  of  corrupt  examples  assailing  them  at  home.  Children  carry 
abroad  their  home-acquired  qualities.  But  in  few  instances,  indeed,  do  they 
borrow  from  abroad  any  good  qualities  to  carry  home  to  their  parents.  No 
such  inversion  of  the  ordinary  laws  of  domestic  and  social  life  has,  at  least, 
been  witnessed  here.  None  is  expected.  Our  schools  may  enlighten  the 
children  of  the  Colony :  but  they,  alone,  cannot  be  expected  much  to  mend 
its  morals ;  or  effectually  to  check  the  common  tide  of  degeneracy,  which 
acting  first  on  parents,  and  next  upon  their  children,  seems  likely  to  sweep 
both  before  it,  and  drown  all  together,  in  perdition.  In  short  it  appears  to  me 
egregious  trifling,  to  suggest  any  other  remedy  for  this  great  and  threatening 
evil,  than  that  which  the  wisdom  of  God  has  appointed  in  the  labors  of  the 
pious,  enlightened,  and  self-denying  Christian  Ministry. 

Such  as  worthily  sustain  this  officeFcome  with  an  authority  which  none  dare 
wholly  despise.  They  come  with  motives  which  all  who  must  die— all  who 
know  what  a  guilty  conscience  is,  all  who  believe  they  have  a  God  to  account 
to  and  a  soul  to  save,  are  obliged  to  feel. 

Let  then,  the  Colony  be  a  parish.  Let  the  Minister  visit,  instruct,  and  la- 
bor from  house  to  house.  Let  him  have  no  other  engagements  in  the  Colony — 
no  other  work  on  earth,  to  divert  his  attention  from  his  spiritual  charge.  Above 


38  APPENDIX. 

sectarian  prejudices  and  feelings,  let  him  be  equally  at  home  among  Christians 
of  every  name.  A  man  of  discrimination,  education,  and  humility  ;  let  him 
employ  the  whole  various  compass  of  means,  submitted  to  his  selection  in  the 
Book,  whence  he  derives  his  commission,  to  obviate  the  prejudices,  obtain  the 
confidence,  conciliate  the  affections,  instruct  the  ignorance,  correct  the  errors, 
amend  the  morals,  and  save  the  souls,  of  all.  Such  a  man  might  indeed,  meet 
with  trials  and  discouragements  ;  might  realize  a  success  at  first,  by  no  means 
commensurate  with  his  wishes  and  his  labors.  But  he  would  sow  seed  which 
must  grow.  He  would  receive  some  aid.  A  few  would,  to  the  utmost,  strength- 
en his  hands  and  encourage  his  heart.  Even  our  teachers  if  humble  and  pious,  as 
several  are,  would  gladly  sit  at  his  feet  and  receive  instruction  :  if  conceited 
and  self-willed,  they  would,  of  all  others,  most  require  it. 

I,  therefore,  beg  respectfully,  but  most  pressingly  to  recommend,  as  in  my 
opinion,  the  only  means  of  rendering  this  Colony,  what  it  is  intended  to  be 
made,  the  truly  Christian  and  civilised  asylum  of  an  outcast  race  of  men,  the 
immediate  engagement  of  at  least  one  laborious  Christian  Minister,  of  the  most 
ardent  piety,  and  untiring  zeal. 

If  it  be  doubted  for  a  moment,  whether  such  an  appointment  be  consistent 
with  the  simple  and  declared  object  of  the  Colonization  Society ;  the  only 
question  to  be  determined  is,  whether  it  be  not  absolutely  necessary,  as  a  means 
of  accomplishing  that  object  ? — Is  jthe  simple  and  unique  object  of  the  Socie- 
ty accomplished  by  only  landing  emigrants  on  the  African  coast,  without  re- 
garding their  future  situation? — Should  the  freight  of  her  transports  hereafter 
be  beached  in  lat.  twenty-five  degrees  North,  where  all  must  famish  and  die 
on  the  sands  of  the  desert,  what  less  would  await  the  Society,  than  the  exe- 
crations of  the  world  ?  And,  can  a  Christian  Institution  feel  less  reluctance  in 
abandoning  a  whole  community — a  community,  which  promises  to  become  im- 
mensely populous,  and  extensive — a  community  derived  from  the  bosom  of  a 
Christian  nation,  to  a  moral  desert,  equally  desolate — to  a  moral  famine,  equal- 
ly certain  ? 

I  have  trespassed,  my  dear  sir,  farther  than  I  fear  I  should,  in  the  length  of 
these  remarks — but  I  have  done  it  under  a  feeling  of  most  sacred  obligation  to 
report  what  I  sincerely  believe  to  be  the  most  urgent  of  all  the  actual  necessi- 
ties of  the  colony,  where  they  ought  to  be  known,  and  whence,  if  from  any 
quarter,  those  necessities  are  to  be  supplied. — None  of  us  who  are  now  active 
in  this  work,  can  act  or  labor  long.  And  to  do  seasonably  and  effectually  what 
little  Divine  Providence  permits  us  to  attempt,  is  no  doubt,  the  way  to  accom- 
plish the  most  in  the  end.  It  is  in  these  views  that  this  paper  is  submitted, 
and  I  cannot  more  appropriately  bring  it  to  a  close,  than  by  humbly  supplicat- 
ing the  Almighty — in  his  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness,  to  supply  the  means 
of  accomplishing  a  work  so  agreeable  to  the  great  ends  of  his  moral  govern  - 
ment ;  which  his  word  assures  us,  is  to  build  up  an  universal  empire  of  holi- 
ness, of  which  the  foundations  are  to  be  laid  in  the  hearts  of  all  mankind. 
Respectfully  and  truly,  dear  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  ASHMUN. 


APPENDIX.  39 

No.  4. 

The  following  Notes  on  Trade  appear  to  have  been  written  in 
lt?22;  the  first  paper  about  the  time  of  Mr.  Ashmun's  departure 
or,  the  second  soon  after  his  arrival  in,  Africa. 

The  objects  of  my  visit  to  the  African  coast,  are, 

I.  To  obtain  and  transmit  home,  such  information  relative  to  the  country, 
and  our  settlement,  as  shall  be  perfectly  accurate,  minute,  full,  and  in  all  points 
satisfactory  to  the  American  Colonization  Society,  and  to  the  public. 

II.  To  make  the  Agents  fully  acquainted  with  the  views  of  the  Managers 
at  home,  on  every  subject  connected  with  the  interests  of  the  colony. 

III.  To  assist  by  my  advice,  and  otherwise,  in  planning,  and  executing 
measures  of  utility  to  the  settlement. 

IV.  To  open  and  superintend  a  regular,  honorable  and  permanent  trade  in 
the  productions  of  the  country,  between  Cape  Montserado,  and  the  vicinity,  and 
the  United  States. 

This  trade  must  be  made, 

First,  advantageous  to  the  interests  of  the  Society. 

Second,  Advantageous  to  the  natives. "] 

Third,  Advantageous  to  the  American  Merchant,  and 

Fourth,  Advantageous  to  myself. 

1.  The  interests  of  the  Society,  will  be  essentially  promoted  by  establishing 
a  regular  intercourse  between  the  United  States  and  Montserado.  If  four  voyages 
annually,  were  to  be  made,  without  any  obligation  on  the  part  of  the  mer- 
chant, to  advance  otherwise  the  interests  of  the  Society,  the  latter  would, 
nevertheless,  derive  from  the  opening  of  the  communication,  the  following  im- 
mediate advantages. 

First,  It  would  never  again  be  obliged  to  charter  vessels  to  carry  out  colo- 
nists, and  stores. 

Second,  It  would  always  be  able,  seasonably,  to  communicate  with  the 
colony. 

Third,  Vessels  proceeding  to  Montseradofor  objects  of  trade,  could  afford  to 
transport  emigrants,  and  stores,  at  half  the  expense,  attending  the  charter  of 
ships  for  the  purpose. 

But  if,  besides  opening  a  profitable  trade  to  the  American  Merchant,  the  So- 
ciety can  bring  him  under  a  pecuniary  obligation,  the  advantages  resulting 
to  their  interests  from  a  commercial  intercourse,  would  be  enhanced  in  propor- 
tion to  the  extent  of  the  obligation. 

The  question  then  is,  how  can  the  Society  make  the  most  of  this  trade  ? 

Ans.  Not  by  turning  merchants  themselves.  Such  an  appendage  would 
prove  most  unpopular  at  home,  and  would  probably  absorb  in  the  expenses  of 
its  own  support,  all  the  profits.  But, 


40  APPENDIX. 

First,  By  prohibiting  all  foreign  ships  from  trading  to  the  settlement,  abso- 
lutely. 

Secondly,  By  laying  a  duty,  amounting  to  a  prohibition,  on  all  exports,  and 
imports,  not  in  vessels  in  the  interest  of  the  Society. 

Thirdly,  By  restricting  the  license  of  trading  to  Montserado  to  a  single  house 
in  America. 

Fourthly,  By  permitting  this  house  to  have  an  agent,  resident  in  Africa — but 
subject  to  the  general  regulations  of  the  Society,  and  liable  to  be  recalled, 
whenever  they  judge  that  he  has  violated  his  instructions. 

Vessels  licensed  to  trade  with  these  immunities  and  privileges,  ought  to  car- 
ry out  the  Society's  passengers  for  a  sum  not  exceeding  10  dollars  an  individu- 
al, perhaps  for  still  less — they  finding  their  own  provisions. 

2.  Such  a  trade  would  prove  advantageous  to  the  natives. 
First,  It  would  divert  them  from  the  slave  trade. 

Secondly,  It  would  supply  their  wants.  They  must,  without  the  substitution 
of  a  regular  trade  in  the  fabrics  of  civilized  countries,  in  lieu  of  that,  which  the 
suppression  of  the  slave  trade  has  broken  off,  suffer  great  inconvenience. 

Thirdly,  By  conducting  this  trade  on  principles  of  strict  justice,  their  hab- 
its, and  some  of  their  principles,  will  come  to  be  meliorated. 

Fourthly,  It  would  compel  them  to  the  exercise  of  honorable  industry,  in  pro- 
curing, and  transporting  the  articles  of  trade  to  the  coast. 

Fifthly,  It  would  induce  them  to  visit,  and  by  degrees  to  imitate  the  indus- 
try and  manners  of  living,  among  our  settlers. 

3.  Trade  to  this  country  will  be  profitable  to  the  American  Merchant, 
if  he   can   be  assured  of   a   full  cargo   always  in  readiness  for  shipment 
at  the  Cape,  on  the  arrival  of  his  ship,  and  sufficiently  so,  if  he  can  make  on 
his  outward  shipment,  one  hundred  per  cent,  and  on  his  return  cargo  two  hun- 
dred. 

4.  The  agency  will  be  advantageous  to  myself,  provided  I  can  receive  a  divi- 
dend of  thirty-three  and  a  third  per  cent,  on  the  gross  amount  of  the  sales  of 
the  cargo  in  America. 

The  following  is  a  concise  exposition  of  the  reasons,  which  led  to  the  mis- 
Hori  of  J.  Ashmun,  to  the  Coast  of  Africa,  and  of  the  views  according  to 
which  the  committee  expect  it  to  be  conducted  : 

The  exertions  hitherto  made  for  colonizing  Africa,  have  been  directed  to  ob- 
jects which  may  be  regarded  as  preliminary  to  the  main  design.  The  practi- 
cability of  the  undertaking  was  to  be  demonstrated  by  acquiring  lands,  and  se- 
curing a  sufficient  number  of  American  Emigrants,  in  the  peaceful  possession 
of  them;  by  attesting  experimentally,  the  productiveness  of  the  soil  to  support, 
and  the  salubrity  of  the  climate  to  admit  of  the  general  health  of  the  colo- 
nists; by  ascertaining  the  willingness  of  the  black  people  of  the  United  States 
to  remove  thither,  and  finally  to  settle,  by  actual  trial,  the  much  disputed  ques- 
tion, whether  the  happiness  of  the  African  race,  would  be  essentially  increas- 


APPENDIX.  41 

ed  by  the  change,  and  the  United  States,  reap  an  important  advantage  from 
encouraging  and  promoting  their  general  emigration. 

These  are  the  preliminary  objects  to  be  accomplished  by  the  Society,  before 
the  principal  ends  of  their  institution  can  be  completely  gained.  They  have 
been  partially  accomplished,  but  not  fully.  Much  indeed,  remains  to  be  done 
before  the  experiment,  as  the  business  must  yet  be  regarded,  will  be  consider- 
ed as  fully  and  successfully  completed.  The  number  of  settlers  must  be 
greatly  augmented  ;  considerable  progress  made  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil ; 
churches,  shops,  school-houses  and  a  large  number  of  comfortable  and  perma- 
nent dwellings  for  the  people,  erected;  a  regular  intercourse  between  the 
United  States,  and  the  colony,  must  be  kept  open;  and  a  general  and  eager  de- 
sire to  emigrate,  must  be  made  to  manifest  itself,  in  the  black  people  of  the 
United  States.  When  the  exertions  of  the  Society  shall  have  received  this  de- 
gree of  success,  the  facilities  for  carrying  on  their  ulterior  designs  will  be 
abundantly  multiplied,  and,  until  that  desirable  period,  they  will  be  obliged  to 
labor  under  great  embarrassments  from  a  deficiency  of  means. 

Public  sentiment  in  all  the  northern  States,  has,  by  a  variety  of  untoward 
events,  unhappily  determined  itself  against  the  whole  plan  of  African  coloni- 
zation. Thousands  are  to  be  met  with  in  every  part  of  the  Union,  equally  un- 
friendly to  the  cause.  The  obvious  consequences  of  this  hostility  are,  1st,  Jl 
determined  refusal  on  the  part  of  a  numerous,  and  influential  part  of  the  commu- 
nity to  aid  the  work,  either  by  their  contributions  or  their  encouragement;  and  2dly, 
the  refusal  of  Congress,  and  the  State  Legislatures,  to  afford  any  pecuniary  aid,  or 
directly  espouse  the  cause,  by  any  public  act  whatever.  Legislation  in  the  United 
States,  is  but  the  expression  of  the  public  and  popular  sentiment.  Effect  in  the 
latter,  a  change  in  favor  of  colonization,  and  you  secure  at  once  the  patron- 
age of  Congress,  and  the  State  Legislatures. 

Now,  what  do  the  objections  offered  by  the  opposers  of  colonization,  amount 
to  ?  They  may  be  all  resolved  into  these  two  :  1st,  Its  impracticability.  2nd, 
The  vanity  of  hoping  to  improve  by  such  means,  the  condition  of  the  American  free 
people  of  color. 

But,  if  the  experiment  now  carrying  on  by  the  Society,  ever  reaches  the 
point  of  success  so  fondly  anticipated,  and  to  which  their  labors  are  so  assidu- 
ously directed,  both  these  objects  will  be  radically  obviated,  and  what  will  be 
the  direct  consequence  ?  Opposition  must  cease.  The  popular  sentiment, 
where  it  now  opposes,  must  be  reversed.  The  zeal  of  its  friends  must  be  in- 
flamed. The  influence  of  the  northern  States,  the  most  efficient  in  the  Union, 
will  be  secured  to  the  cause.  The  amount  of  individual  contributions  must 
be  increased  on  a  fifty  fold  ratio.  Congress  will  patronise  the  design.  The 
States,  certainly  all  the  slave-holding  States,  will  vote  subsidies— the  latter, 
with  a  liberality,  proportioned  to  the  burdens  under  which  they  labor,  from  the 
excess  of  black  population. 

In  the  interim,  ample  funds  are  required  by  the  Society,  to  prosecute  the 
work  they  have  in  hand  ;  gradually  augmenting  the  sphere  of  their  operations 

F 


42  APPENDIX. 

in  oi'derto  reach  that  consummation,  which  is  to  produce  the  expected  re  volu- 
tion in  the  popular  mind. 

These  funds  must  be  derived  from  individual  munificence.  Government  will 
very  soon  have  so  far  fulfilled  the  purposes  of  the  African  agency,  as  to  satisfy 
itself  with  a  very  limited  annual  appropriation  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  up 
that  slight  establishment  on  the  coast,  which  alone  was  contemplated  by  the 
Act  under  which  it  was  founded.  It  is  indeed  doubtful,  whether  the  President 
will  feel  himself  authorized  to  pay  the  expense  of  transporting  more  than  one 
or  two  hundred  additional  settlers.  The  heavy  expense  of  freighting  ships  for 
the  purpose,  will  then  fall  upon  the  Society — an  expense  which  they  have  ne- 
ver yet  been  obliged  to  sustain,  and  which  has  been  anticipated  with  more  se- 
rious apprehensions,  than  any  other  attending,  or  likely  to  attend  the  prosecu- 
tion of  their  work. 

After  the  present  year,  it  is  desirable  that  four  large  ships  should  annually 
arrive  in  the  colony  with  settlers  from  the  United  States.  The  charter  and  ex- 
pense of  these  ships,  alone  would  cost  24,000  dollars. 

A  conditional  agreement  has  been  entered  into  with  a  commercial  house  in 
Baltimore,  by  which  two  or  more  ships  of  the  first  order,  are  to  be  fitted  out, 
to  run  constantly  between  the  United  States  and  the  coast ;  provided  a  sufficient 
inducement  can  be  presented  in  the  trade  of  that  part  of  Africa,  over  which  the  So- 
ciety may  be  expected  to  have  some  control. 

It  is  believed  that,  in  consequence  of  the  cessation  of  the  slave  trade,  at 
Cape  Montserado,  the  mouth  of  the  river  will  naturally  become  a  depot  for  many 
valuable  productions  of  the  country,  and  may  be  made  the  mart  of  an  honora- 
ble trade  with  the  natives,  which  in  a  short  time  will  admit  of  extension  to  a 
degree  rendering  it  an  object  of  very  considerable  importance.  The  native 
tribes  bordering  on  the  banks  of  that  river,  for  hundreds  of  miles  in  the  inte- 
rior, must  shortly  be  able,  with  encouragement,  to  procure,  and  furnish  at  its 
mouth,  an  abundance  of  Camwood,  and  other  dye  woods,  bees-wax,  Palm-oil, 
and  a  smaller  quantity  of  hides,  elephants'  teeth,  and  gold-dust.  They  have 
been  from  time  immemorial,  accustomed  to  the  use  of  European  and  Indian 
fabrics,  obtained  in  barter  for  slaves.  Of  this  means  of  supplying  their  wants 
they  are  now,  it  is  hoped,  forever,  and  effectually  deprived.  Their  industry 
must  be  aroused,  and  directed  to  other  pursuits.  They  will  be,  very  soon, 
both  able  and  willing  to  furnish  many  articles  of  value  in  the  American  mar- 
ket, and  over  the  whole  of  this  trade,  the  Society  ought  to  exercise  the  most 
entire  control,  and  if  possible,  turn  it  to  the  advantage  of  the  natives,  and 
of  their  own  designs. 

It  is  believed  that  a  treaty  of  commerce  may  be  established  by  the  Society, 
with  some  of  these  tribes,  immediately — and  with  all,  eventually. 

Let  it  be  to  this  effect,  The  Society  agree  to  furnish  the  natives,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river,  with  every  article  which  they  shall  require,  and  to  the  amount  for  which 
they  can  furnish  camwood,  $c.  to  pay,  and  at  a  fair  price.  No  frauds  shall  be 
practised  on  either-  hand.  The  trade  is  to  be  carried  on  wholly,  through  an  Agent 


APPENDIX.  43 

residing,  with  the  consent  and  concurrence  of  the  Society,  at  Cape  Montserado. 
The  natives  to  sell  their  produce  to  no  foreigner,  and  to  trade  with  no  vessels  not 
recognized  as  in  the  interest  of  the  Society. 

Similar  arrangements  it  is  believed  may  be  entered  into  with  the  natives 
inhabiting  Cape  Mount,  and  the  interior.  Another  depot  may  be  established 
both  there,  and  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Paul's,  under  the  same  Agency.  It 
is  very  desirable,  likewise,  to  engross  all  the  trade  of  the  coast,  extending 
and  connecting  it  as  far  as  possible,  interior,  and  to  the  southward  as  far  as 
Cape  Palmas ;  where  another  mart  may  be  established ;  and  if  practicable, 
even  to  Cape  Coast.  This  trade,  if  not  monopolized  by  the  Society,  will  be 
occupied  by  others,  probably  by  foreigners.  The  Society  will  not  only  thus 
lose  the  pecuniary  advantages  which  it  might  derive  from  it;  but,  what  is  a 
still  greater  evil,  will  inevitably  see  the  natives  alienated  by  degrees  from 
their  interests,  and  possibly  excited  at  no  very  distant  period,  to  a  state  of 
hostility  to  the  Colony. 

It  is,  therefore,  a  dictate,  not  of  mercantile  cupidity,  but  of  the  soundest 
policy,  and  of  benevolence  to  the  natives  themselves,  to  endeavor  if  practica- 
ble, at  the  earliest  period,  to  convert  into  one  honorable  and  profitable  chan- 
nel, the  whole  trade  of  the  coast  for  several  degrees,  both  to  the  north  and 
south  of  Montserado. 

Except  in  their  own  territory,  the  Society  have  not,  perhaps,  the  right  or 
the  power  of  enforcing  any  regulation  of  the  trade.  But  here,  it  certainly 
has  the  right ;  it  ought  to  possess  the  power,  and  must,  as  a  measure  of  self- 
preservation,  make  the  attempt.  What  right  have  the  English  to  control  the 
trade  of  all  that  part  of  the  coast,  extending  from  the  Sound  of  Sherbro,  to 
the  Rio  Grande  ?  But  they  assume  it.  This  fact,  though  it  proves  nothing 
about  the  right,  yet  will  silence  all  objections  which  they  may  urge  against  an 
imitation  of  their  example,  by  the  Society,  in  the  neighborhood  of  their  set- 
tlement. The  right  itself  is  to  be  founded  on  a  fair  and  honorable  treaty  of 
commerce  concluded  with  the  natives. 

To  avoid  the  odium  of  a  monopoly,  it  is  purposed  by  the  regulations  of  the 
Society,  adopted  at  the  Cape,  in  addition  to  the  absolute  prohibition  of  the 
trade  of  the  Cape  to  all  foreign  vessels  and  subjects  whatever,  to  lay  a  duty  on 
American  vessels,*  which  by  absorbing  the  profits,  will  amount  to  a  pro- 
hibition. 

Thus  leaving  the  trade  open  to  a  single  house  in  America,  the  whole  ad- 
vantage of  it,  will  be  secured  to  the  Society.  That  already  alluded  to,  stipu- 
lates, on  these  conditions,  to  furnish  a  sufficient  quantity  and  variety  of 
goods  most  in  esteem  with  the  natives,  to  pay  for  all  the  produce  they  bring 
to  the  coast ;  and,  after  deducting  a  reasonable  profit,  to  devote  the  proceeds  to 
the  advancement  of  the  Colony.  Their  agent  on  the  coast,  is  to  be  nomin- 
ated by  the  Society,  who  is  to  furnish  the  latter  with  a  statement  of  all  the 

*  Not  proceeding  under  commission  of  the  Society. 


44  APPENDIX. 

shipments  and  other  operations  connected  with  the  trade,  in  order  that  the 
most  accurate  knowledge  may  be  ever  possessed  by  the  Institution  of  its  ac- 
tual profits. 

The  advantages  of  such  an  arrangement,  have  been  already  presented.  It 
will  aid  and  relieve  the  funds  of  the  Society.  It  will  secure  the  attachment 
of  the  natives.  It  will  wean  them  from  the  slave  trade  and  reconcile  them 
to  its  abandonment.  It  will  give  an  impulse  to  their  laudable  industry ; 
and  supply  their  wants.  It  will  accustom  them  to  an  observance  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  honesty  and  justice  in  their  commercial  transactions;  and  by 
all  these  efforts,  help,  in  an  important  degree,  to  civili/e,  and  prepare  them 
for  the  reception  of  the  richer  blessings  of  Christianity.  It  will  establish  a 
regular  intercourse  and  communication  betwen  the  United  States  and  the 
Colony.  The  Society  will  be  exactly  and  regularly  informed  of  the  state  of 
the  settlement,  and  can,  at  any  time,  send  such  supplies  as  the  latter  may  re- 
quire. It  will  enable  black  people  possessing  property,  to  emigrate  at  option. 
Masters  of  slaves,  desirous  to  liberate  and  transport  them  to  the  Colony,  can 
do  it  at  a  trifling  expense.  It  will  furnish,  in  the  productions  of  Africa  thus 
brought  regularly  to  the  United  States,  ocular  testimony  of  the  fertility  of  the 
African  soil,  and  the  resources  of  that  country.  This  circumstance  will  do 
more  towards  silencing  one  class  of  objectors,  and  rousing  some  of  the  friends 
of  the  cause  to  redoubled  zeal  and  activity,  than  a  volume  of  arguments  de- 
rived from  less  equivocal  sources.  Finally,  it  will  accelerate  the  desirable 
period  when  all  parties  are  to  be  united  in  the  advancement  of  this  great  na- 
tional object,  and  Congress  take  it  under  its  efficient  patronage. 


No.  5. 

Mr.  Ashmun  considered  too  little,  we  believe,  at  this  crisis,  the 
particular  causes  productive  of  insubordination.  He  regarded  the 
spirit  of  revolt,  as  a  development  of  general  character  brought 
out  by  new  circumstances,  rather  than  the  result,  principally, 
of  misapprehension,  and  that  irritability  which  trials  and  afflic- 
tions in  minds  not  thoroughly  disciplined,  too  frequently  excite. 
Some  of  those  who  were  ungovernable  at  this  period,  became 
afterwards,  firm  supporters  of  the  Government,  and  enjoyed  the 
unqualified  confidence  of  the  Colonial  Agent. 


APPENDIX.  45 

No.  6. 

These  heads  were, 

1st.  The  extension  of  the  Town  beyond  the  original  limits. 

2d.  The  claim  of  some  of  the  old  emigrants  under  the  draw- 
ing for  lots  which  took  place  at  Fourah  Bay,  in  1821. 

3d.  The  plan  of  Government  proposed. 

4th.  The  digest  of  the  Laws. 

5th.  The  salaries  and  rations  of  the  proposed  officers. 

6th.  The  prices  of  articles  to  be  sold. 

All  these  subects  had  been  deliberately  considered  by  the 
Agents,  and  on  all,  had  our  decisions  (subject  to  the  judgment 
of  the  Board,)  been  announced  to  the  Colonists,  who  with  an 
unexpected  unanimity  expressed  their  approbation  of  them. 
The  Managers,  who,  for  their  long  and  arduous  and  uncompen- 
sated  labors  in  the  African  cause,  deserve  respect  and  thanks 
from  all  men,  acted  on  these  subjects,  with  desire  to  know  and 
do  their  duty,  yet  the  result  proved  how  slowly  good  men  ad- 
mit evidence  going  to  overthrow  their  long  established  opinions. 
We  here  insert  a  few  pages  extracted  from  the  Colonial  Journal, 
to  serve  as  a  specimen  of  the  record  made  by  him  of  events,  and 
to  show  the  state  of  things  immediately  after  the  reorganization 
of  the  Government :  also  his  remarks  on  the  most  economical 
mode  of  subsisting  the  Colony.  Also  a  paper  on  the  subject  of 
ardent  spirits. 

MONROVIA,  AUGUST  22d,  1824. 

The  new  civil  organization  went  into  effect.  The  prices  of  labor  accepted 
in  compensation  for  provisions,  are  fixed  at  the  following  rates  : 

Common  Laborers  in  general,          -        -        -        50  cts.  or  2  3  Bar. 
Lime-Burners,  Coal  Makers,  and  others  requiring  some 

skill,  &c.,     -  75  cts.  or  1  Bar. 

Proper  Mechanics, 100  cts.  or  1  1-3  Bar. 

The  United  States'  Agent,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gurley,  sailed  in  the  United  States' 
Schooner  Porpoise,  for  America,  by  way  of  the  West  Indies.  The  weather, 
till  to-day,  had  been  remarkably  fine,  since  the  arrival  of  the  Porpoise,  on  the 
17th  inst. :  but  owing  to  the  thickness  of  the  rain  for  24  hours  past,  the 
Schooner  has,  with  difficulty,  been  able  to  communicate  with  the  shore  in  that 
time. 


46 


APPENDIX/ 


Our  people  are  divided  into  two  religious  sects— the  Methodist  and  Baptist ; 
each  of  which  has  its  separate  Preachers,  and  places  of  worship.  The  Metho- 
dists are  also  divided  into  the  Wesley ans,  and  the  followers  of  Bishop  Allen. 
The  Preachers  of  the  latter,  act  under  his  license,  and  ordination.  Each  has 
its  separate  discipline,  but  occupy  alternately  the  same  place  of  worship. 
[Since  the  date  of  the  foregoing,  the  two  parties  in  the  Methodist  Church  have 
divided  from  each  other  entirely,  and  established  separate  places  of  worship.] 

Monday,  August  24.  The  Council  was  convened  by  the  Agent. 

Resolved,  1.  That  the  town-lots  and  plantations  remaining  to  be  assigned, 
be  surveyed  and  appropriated  immediately. 

2.  That  a  road,  ten  feet  wide,  be  immediately  opened  and  formed,  along  the 
centre  of  the  Main  Avenue,  to  the  summit  of  the  Mountain  ;  and  that  the  la- 
bour of  the  captured  Africans  and  Colonists,  be  directed  to  that  object. 

3.  That  the  Colonists  interested  in  the  plantation-survey,  proceed  to  open 
paths  along  the  lines  of  the  plantations  ;  and  while  so  occupied,  be  exempt 
from  any  other  public  labor. 

4.  That  all  public  tools  be  charged  to  the  receivers ;  and  if  not  produced 
when  required,  be  paid  for,  and  the  amount  collected  by  the  proper  officer. 

David  White  appeared,  and  offered  to  support  himself.  Twenty-seven  Bill 
Hooks,  and  seventeen  Axes,  were  distributed  to  the  settlers  and  Superintendent 
Captured  Afrcians,  and  charged  to  the  receivers.  Every  proprietor  of  lands 
is  required  to  set  two  substantial  land-marks,  and  replace  them  when  decayed, 
at  the  two  diagonal  angles  of  his  lot.  N.  Butler  is  engaged  to  labor  con- 
stantly on  the  new  Agency-house. 

The  conductor  of  ordnance  is  directed  to  place  the  arms,  ammunition,  and 
military  stores,  in  a  state  of  order  and  security ,  or  report  to  the  Agent  the 
necessary  repairs  requiring  the  aid  of  some  other  workman. 

W.  W.  Barbour  is  engaged  to  open  a  Town  School  for  Boys  on  Tuesday 
the  25th  of  August,  and  promised  a  compensation  of  9  Bars  and  his  rations 
per  month.  This  school  is  to  be  held  in  the  Methodist  Meeting-House. 

The  rations  are  fixed  for  an  adult  at  4  pounds  pork,  3  pounds  flour,  1  pound 
bread,  1-2  pint  molasses,  and  1  gill  of  vinegar — val.  95  per  week. 

It  is  to-day  decided,  that  the  legal  value  of  the  Bar,  compared  with  the  dol- 
lar, shall,  in  all  transactions  originating  after  this  date,  be  75-100ths,  or  three 
quarters  of  a  dollar. 

August  25.  The  object  of  the  accommodation  offered  to  settlers  by  supply- 
ing them  with  provisions,  on  sale,  being  to  encourage  a  spirit  of  industry  and 
independence,  and  the  prices  being  regulated  with  a  view  only  to  supply  the 
place  of  provisions  thus  taken  from  the  store,  it  is  decided  that  when  provisions 
are  taken  agreeably  to  the  foregoing  regulation,  by  the  barrel,  &c.,  and  the 
payment  made  in  cash,  or  other  produce  not  liable  to  a  diminution  of  value ; 
the  retail  price  be  abated  12  1-2  per  centum. 

This  day,  Wm.  Steward  commenced  his  school :  also,  John  S.  Mill  en- 


APPENDIX.  47 

tered  upon  his  duties  as  Colonial  Secretary  pro  tempore.*  A.  D.  Williams 
also  assumed  the  superintendence  of  the  captured  Africans.  The  laborers 
have  been  occupied,  when  the  rains  did  not  forbid,  in  forming  a  road  to  the 
summit  of  the  Cape. 

August  29.  The  appointment  of  F.  Devaney  as  Captain  of  the  Liberia 
Guard,  with  the  rank  of  Lieutenant,  was  confirmed  :  his  commission  to  date 
from  this  day.  Ere  is  ordered  to  superintend  the  fitting  up  of  a  temporary 
rendezvous,  and  to  enlist  soldiers,  promising  a  bounty  of  five  Bars.  The  S. 
C.  A.  Reports,  that  the  persons  under  his  charge  have  labored  the  past  week 
with  great  spirit.  Contracts  have  been  formed  for  getting  out  the  timber 
for  two  houses  on  the  summit  of  the  Cape  :  each  of  which  is  to  be  an  L,  27 
feet  long — the  perpendicular,  18, — and  the  width,  9.  These  are  to  face  each 
other.  The  shortest  wing  of  one  is  for  the  Superintendent ;  and  the  corres- 
ponding part  of  the  other  is  to  serve  as  a  school-room.  The  military  lands 
about  the  Fort  have  been  laid  out  in  a  convenient  and  ornamental  style. 

The  two  guard  houses  are  to  be  each  26  by  9  feet,  20  feet  to  two  rooms, 
each  to  accommodate  a  mess  of  3  privates — 6  feet  for  a  room  in  each,  to  lodge 
a  non-commissioned  officer. 

The  Court  of  Sessions  dismissed  two  vexatious  suits  which  had  been  sent 
up  by  appeal  from  the  Justices  Court,  and  sentenced  one  Krooman,  of  some 
distinction,  to  two  dozen  stripes,  and  two  weeks'  confinement  at  hard  labor, 
for  stealing.  The  Brig  "  Union,"  from  Bristol,  England,  left  for  the  lee- 
ward. 

Monday  31s/.  It  is  decided  to  pay  for  good  plank,  25  dollars  the  thousand — 
and  square  timber  of  small  size,  at  the  same  rate  per  the  running  foot.  It  is 
also  decided  to  lay  off  to  each  of  the  settlers,  entitled  at  this  time  to  draw 
plantation-lots,  two  acres,  situated  at  the  south-westward  of  the  Town  ;  and 
the  remainder  due,  to  the  south-eastward  ;  because 

1.  It  will  ensure  the  early  cultivation  and  improvement  of  the  first-men- 
tioned Tract. 

2.  The  measure  will  give  to  each  of  the  settlers  a  small  plantation  near 
their  town-residence ;  and  tend  to  advance  agriculture  more  generally  than  to 
send  one-half  these  persons  to  the  distance  of  two  miles  from  their  plantations. 

September  1st,  1834.  The  Monthly  Report  of  the  Agricultural  Committee 
returns, 

Whole  No.  of  Town  Lots  assigned,  -        80 

Do.        do.         do.  cleared,  -         24 

*  It  may  here  be  inserted  by  way  of  anticipation,  in  transcribing,  that  Mr. 
Mill  continued  'till  the  30th  of  September,  to  fulfil  his  duties  with  great  fi  - 
delity  and  ability.  The  records  were  most  correctly  and  beautifully  copied — 
and  the  books  reduced  to  order,  and  many  collateral  services  rendered.  From 
that  time  he  has  returned,  as  if  tired  of  the  restraints  of  civilized  life,  to  his 
former  habits.  I  seldom  see  him. 


48  APPENDIX, 

Whole  No.  of  Town  Lots  partly  cleared,  -  29 

Do.  do.  do.  inclosed,  -  27 
Do.  do.  do.  on  which  buildings  are  erecting,  14 

Do.  do.  do.  which  are  gardens,  -  15 

Plantation  Lots,  assigned,  -  34 

Do.  do.  on  which  improvements  are  begun,  2 


Report  of  the  Health  Committee  returns, 

Invalids  in  toto,        -  19 

Of  which  are  adults,         -  -         15 

Ulcers,      -  14 

Debility,    -  .  4 

Chronic     -  1 

Of  the  preceding,  there  are  3  bad  cases ;  and  16  slowly  convalescent. 
This  Report  is  here  given  as  a  tolerably  correct  exhibit  of  the  general  state 
of  health  of  the  Colony  since  the  beginning  of  the  rains. 

The  name  by  which  it  is  decided  to  distinguish  the  Town,  about  to  be 
founded  for  captured  Africans,  is  Thompson  Town,  after  the  late  Honora- 
ble Secretary  of  the  Navy,  under  whose  superintendence  the  present  measures 
for  training  these  persons  to  Civilization  and  Christianity  went  into  operation. 
If  the  wishes  of  a  few  nearly  forgotten  individuals  are  gratified,  the  name 
will  be  retained  by  the  Board.  Sailed  for  Sierra  Leone,  a  small  Trading- 
Sloop,  last  from  the  leeward. 

The  Agent,  some  months  ago,  having  addressed  several  inquiries  to  the 
Government  of  Sierra  Leone,  relative  to  the  existing  regulations  of  the  port, 
expressing  at  the  same  time  a  wish  that  the  intercourse  between  that  Colony 
and  our  own,  might  be  impeded  by  no  needless  restrictions,  has  received  from 
the  Governor  and  Council,  a  communication  enclosing  in  reply,  an  ordinance 
of  their  Board,  that  "Vessels  owned  in,  andbona-fide  attached  to  theAmerican 
Colony  of  Montserado,  be  admitted  to  the  Port  of  Free  Town,  to  trade  in  any 
of  the  productions  of  the  country,  without  being  liable  to  any  Custom  House, 
or  port  charges,  whatever." 

September  4th.    A  large  Brig,  said  to  be  French,  and  strongly  armed,  passed 

down,  which  the  Agent  is  informed  is  bound  to  Whydah,  having dollars 

aboard,  and  intended  for  600  slaves — same  day,  a  French  Schooner,  some 
weeks  on  the  coast,  anchored  in  reach  of  the  guns  of  the  Fort,  where  she 
continued,  occasionally  weighing  and  standing  off  a  few  hours,  five  days. 
The  rains  return  uniformly  every  morning ;  and  subside  towards  evening. 

September  6th.  Clothing,  to  the  amount  of  thirty-six  ready  made  garments, 
and  six  hundred  yards  of  cotton  stuffs,  were  to-day  issued  to  the  people,  and 
captured  Africans.  A  considerable  amount  of  the  best  clothes,  were  also 
sold  for  shingles,  plank,  squared  timber,  and  scantling  for  building  the  public 
houses  projected — The  street  leading  directly  down  to  the  river  from  the 
Agent's  house,  has  also  been  opened,  and  partly  formed. 


APPENDIX.  49 

September  7th.  J.  Dickson,  and  Thomas  A.  Harris,  cease  to  receive  public 
rations,  by  their  own  desire. 

The  Kings  of  all  the  neighboring  tribes  to  the  Northward,  in  April  last, 
forbade  their  people  to  trade  ivith  the  Colony  in  Ivory  and  wood,  before  more 
satisfactory  prices  should  be  obtained.  This  prohibition  naturally  affected  the 
supplies  of  Rice,  vegetables,  and  other  productions,  not  expressly  included  in 
the  interdict.  But  the  effect  has  been,  to  distress  themselves,  without  compell- 
ing the  Colony  to  offer  higher  prices.  Of  this  they  seem  at  length  convinced, 
and  about  a  week  ago,  called  a  meeting  to  deliberate  on  the  question,  of  re- 
moving the  restriction  ;  or  of  entering  into  stipulations,  respecting  the  prices, 
with  the  Colony.  They  immediately  after  heard  the  rumor,  that  the  Condoes, 
Boatswain's  tribe,  intended  another  attack  upon  the  remnant  of  the  Queahs,* 
to  revenge  an  old  quarrel.  Bromley  directly  despatched  a  messenger  with  a 
present  of  sixty  Rollsf  df  salt,  to  King  Boatswain,  begging  him  to  prevent 
any  dependant  chief  of  his,  from  carrying  the  war  against  his  neighbors.  A 
few  days  afterwards,  a  great  number  of  Queahs  arrived  on  the  coast  to  im- 
plore an  asylum  among  the  Dey  people.  The  assembly  of  head  men  at 
Bromley's  dispersed  in  order  to  protect  their  own  towns  from  a  possible  irrup- 
tion of  the  Condoe  Chief,  without  having  decided  on  any  one  question,  which 
brought  them  together.— '-To-day,  a  messenger  was  sent  from  the  Island,  to  re- 
port to  the  Agent,  that  the  Condoes  have  made  an  expedition  down  to  the 
Queahs  and  secured  and  marched  off  eighty-six  prisoners.  The  fact  is  pre- 
sumed to  be  so. 

September  llth..  A  free  and  open  pathj  twenty  feet  wide,  has  been  formed 
from  the  settlement  to  the  summit  of  the  mountainous  part  of  the  Cape — the 
ground  chosen  for  the  site  of  the  Captured  Africans'  Town.  This  labor  has  been 
accomplished  almost  entirely  by  the  labor  of  the  Africans  themselves.  The 
Superintendent  reports  them  to  have  labored  with  great  cheerfulness  and  alac- 
rity, and  to  have  demeaned  themselves  in  a  very  orderly  manner.  I  am  inform- 
ed there  are  four  slaving  vessels  at  the  Gallinas,  and  three  at  Cape  Mount,  and 
Chubris— three  leagues  beyond. 

The  Colonists  are  excited  by  recent  changes  in  the  Government,  by  the  chag- 
rin  of  past  irregularities,  and  the  dread  of  a  recurrence  of  the  distress  and 
confusion  of  the  last  half-year,  to  an  effort  of  strenuous  activity,  never  before 
witnessed  in  the  settlement.  Heaven  send  them  perseverance.  The  moat 
cheering  hopes  of  the  beneficial  influence  of  the  new  government,  are  with 
good  reason,  entertained.-^The  reform  caused  in  the  police  system  by  the 
formation  of  a  Guard,  independent  of  the  Colonists,  although  not  yet  completed, 
has  put  an  entire  end  to  the  little  depredations  so  frequent  before.  Sleeping  on 

*  This  tribe  inhabits  the  upper  waters,  near  the  source  of  the  river  Montse- 
rado,  about  forty-five  miles  from  the  settlement. 

t  So  named  from  the  shape  of  the  hamper  in  which  it  is  enclosed,  being  5 
inches  in  diameter,  and  35  or  40  long. 

G 


50  APPENDIX. 

post,  subjects  the  delinquent,  if  a  citizen,  to  three  days'  imprisonment.  The 
penalty  has  been  twice  exacted.  Several  respectable  natives  came  and  se- 
cretly assured  the  Agent,  that  the  hostilities,  which  the  Dey  people  would  per- 
suade us  are  directed  against  the  Queahs,  have  our  settlement  for  their  object. 
Reports  of  this  nature  having  been  circulated  previously,  and  many  of  our  native 
laborers  having  left  us  in  consequence,  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  take  pre- 
cautionary measures,  accordingly.  The  whole  military  force  was  paraded  at 
sun-set,  and  after  hearing  such  an  explanation  as  the  occasion  called  for,  were 
marched  off  under  their  proper  Officers,  to  the  different  batteries,  and  lay  on 
their  arms  through  the  night. — A  very  strong  guard  was  posted  at  the  different 
stations,  every  night,  for  five  days,  till  we  were  authentically  informed  that 
any  combination  which  may  have  been  thought  of,  or  begun,  against  us,  was 
broken  up,  and  the  movers  returned  to  their  respective  towns. 

September  20th.  William  Draper,  (per  Cyrus,)  Charles  Butler,  and  Jacob 
Warner,  (per  Oswego,)  withdrew  their  names  from  the  ration-list. 

21sf.  Joseph  Blake,  Charles  Branden,  and  Benjamin  Vaughan,  also  withdrew 
their  names  to-day.  Several  messengers  have  for  a  week  past  come  in  to  as- 
sure us,  thatthe  rumor  which  had  caused  our  recent  apprehensions,  was  ground- 
less, and  the  authors  of  it,  instigated  by  malicious  motives,  and  that  the  arrival 
of  the  fugitive  Queahs  had  excited  all  the  commotion — which  had  been  repre- 
sented to  us,  as  much  greater  than  it  was.  Kings  George  and  Gray,  paid  a 
visit  to  the  settlement,  to  renew  their  assurances  of  friendship,  and  offered  to 
enter  into  a  contract  to  supply  it  with  Rice. 

The  rains  are  abundant,  and  have  prevailed  for  a  succession  of  days  and 
nights  incessantly.  Public  works  consequently,  get  on  slowly. 

Died,  Samuel  Weeks,  from  Baltimore,  per  Fidelity,  July  1823,  aged  about 
sixty-five.  He  sickened  about  four  months  after  his  arrival ;  his  convalescence 
was  attended  with  disordered  bowels,  and  dropsical  swellings,  from  which  re- 
sulted a  decline,  that  has  at  length  carried  him  off.  He  has  no  family  in  the 
Colony. — King  Peter  Bromley  sent  the  Agent  a  letter,  in  which  he  renews  his 
professions  of  friendship,  and  promises  to  send  into  the  Colony  for  saley  a 
large  quantity  of  Rice.  He  engages  to  use  his  influence  with  his  brother  kings, 
to  have  old  difficulties  settled  speedily,  and  to  pay  to  the  colony  a  visit  as  soon 
as  they  shall  be  ready  with  definite  propositions  relative  to  the  trade  . — The 
Agent  procured  three  hundred  Orange  scions,  which  are  to-day  set.*  Aver- 
age of  Thermometer  seventy-four  and  a  half  degrees  by  day,  and  seventy-six 
by  night.  The  Dey  people  keep  up  the  prohibition  of  the  trade  of  their  coun- 
try with  the  Colony — in  Camwood,  and  Ivory  only;  and  with  manifest  advan- 
tage to  the  industry  of  the  Colony. 

f 

*  I  regret  to  say,  that  at  this  date,  Dec.  4th.,  not  a  dozen  of  these  settings  are 
alive.  They  all  struck  root,  and  flourished  while  the  rains  lasted,  but  have 
withered  since.  The' proper  time  to  transplant,  8cc.  is  at  the  beginning  of  the 


APPENDIX.  51 

September  2'2d.  By  appointment  on  the  part  of  the  Agents,  met  at  Monro- 
via, lungs  Gray*  and  Georgef  and  Ba  Caia  of  the  Island;  all  of  whom  have  been 
ol'ten  accused  of  interfering  to  stop  our  Rice-trade  on  its  way  to  the  Colony. — 
The  Bassa  branch  of  this  trade,  alone,  which  has  been  cut  oil',  ought  to  pro- 
duce the  settlement  five  hundred  bushels  annually.  Caia,  it  is  believed,  had 
only  blocked  up  the  road  unintentionally,  and  as  the  consequence  of  a  long  un- 
settled quarrel  with  Kings,  Prince  Will,  of  the  Junk,andTom,  of  Little  Bassa. 
Gray  and  George  have  acted  on  the  monopolizing  policy,  which  all  the  coast- 
people  have  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  adopted  in  relation  to  the  trade  of  the  in- 
terior, and  from  distant  tribes.  By  intercepting  it  in  its  afilux  to  the  settle- 
ment, they  make  their  profit  without  any  industry,  and  at  the  expense  both  of 
us,  and  the  growers  of  the  produce. 

After  stating  our  grievance,  and  hearing  the  best  apology  which  the  Kings 
could  invent,  the  Agent  proposed  a  definite  and  effectual  settlement  of  the  mat- 
ter, by  adopting  such  a  course  as  must  terminate  all  past  suspicion  and  pre- 
vent it  in  future.  They  acceded  with  little  hesitation  to  the  proposals,  and  the 
following  agreement  was  executed  on  the  spot. 

J.  Ashmun,  Agent  in  behalf  of  the  Colonization  Society,  and  people  of  Mon- 
rovia,— Chief  Caia,  in  behalf  of  himself  and  people — Kings  George  and  Gray, 
of  themselves  and  people,  agree, 

I.  To  live  in  perpetual  peace. 

II.  To  trade  without  fraud,  or  interruption  in  any  goods  and  productions  we 
may  have  to  dispose  of. 

III.  Never  to  hinder  the  trade  and  intercourse  of  any  other  people  whatever. 

IV.  The  Kings  agree  to  send  any  evil  disposed  person,  who  shall  undertake 
to  injure  the  settlement  by  lying,  stealing,  or  spreading  false  reports,  to  Mon- 
rovia to  be  punished. 

V.  The  Agent  agrees  to  notify  the  Kings,  of  any  of  their  people  undertak- 
ing maliciously  to  injure  their  good  name,  or  stir  up  in  their  mind  a  suspicion 
of  their  hostile  intentions  against  the  American  people. 

VI.  The  Agent  and  Kings  particularly  agree,  to  send  each  a  messenger  im- 
mediately, to  the  Junk  people — to  the  Pequenino  and  Grand  Bassa  people,  to 
declare  in  their  names  to  those  people,  that  their  trade  with  the  Americans,  is 
and  shall  be  free  ;  that  the  path  is  entirely  open,  and  that  neither  the  Kings,  nor 
their  people  shall  in  any  way  hinder  or  molest  the  free  trade  of  any  other  peo- 
ple with  the  American  town." 

In  witness,  &c. 

J.  ASHMUN. 

KING  GRAY,  his  X  mark. 

KING  GEORGE,  his  X  mark. 

*  Gray  lives  on  the  sea- coast,  two  leagues  distant -from  the  Cape,  South. 

f  George  has  his  town  on  the  Junk,  four  leagues  from  Montserado,  in  the 
same  direction,  and  form?rly  resided  at,  and  controlled  the  watcrinF-place  of 
the  Cape. 


52  APPENDIX. 

In  pursuance  of  the  last  article  of  the  foregoing  agreement,  the  Rev.  C.  M. 
Waring  was  selected  to  visit,  in  conjunction  with  the  messengers  of  the 
Kings,  all  the  tribes,  as  far  as  Grand  Bassa  inclusive,  in  order  to  execute  the 
object  of  the  foregoing  agreement.  He  was  instructed, 

"To  proceed  in  company  of  the  Messengers  of  Caia,  George,  Gray,  Prince 
Will,  and  Tom  Bassa,  none  of  whom  was  he  to  pass  without  bringing  them 
to  accede  to  the  agreement  foregoing,  if  they  had  not  before.  He  was  to  be 
careful  in  explaining,  strenuous  and  precise  in  exacting  their  adoption  of  the 
paper;  and  to  give  them  every  assurance  that  the  road  would  ever  after,  be 
kept  open.  In  these  declarations  and  assurances,  the  three  first  Messengers, 
particularly,  were  to  be  required  to  unite  in  the  names  of  their  principals. 
At  Grand  Bassa,  it  was  especially  desired  and  expected  that  he  would  assem- 
ble the  Regent  and  other  Head  Men,  and  publish  the  information  and  assur- 
ance as  effectually,  and  as  largely  as  possible,  and  endeavor  to  induce  them 
and  all  others  having  rice  for  sale,  to  take  advantage  of  the  re-opening  of  the 
road,  as  early  as  possible."  He  was  supplied  with  goods  for  small  presents ; 
took  his  departure  on  the  23d  of  September,  and  returned  after  having  very 
satisfactorily  executed  the  Mission,  on  the  2d  of  October.  A  copy  of  hie  ac- 
count of  the  journey  is  forwarded  for  the  Board. 

September  25th.  George   Mason  from  this  date,  supports  himself.    At  the 

Court  of  Monthly  Sessions  holden  to-day,  Mrs.  T was  arraigned  on 

a  charge  of  threatening,  abusing  and  attempting  to  hinder  Lieutenant  Da- 
veny  in  the  execution  of  his  duty.  Verdict,  not  guilty  of  the  charge ;  but 
deserving,  for  her  boisterous,  and  scurrilous  language,  the  admonition  of  the 
Court ;  which  was  accordingly  administered.  Last  night,  a  very  impudent 
robbery  was  committed.  At  7  o'clock  this  morning,  the  Guard  took  into 
custody  all  the  straggling  and  suspicious  natives  about  the  settlement — on  the 
testimony  of  some  of  these,  it  appeared  that  the  thief  was  a  Bassa  man,  who 
had  gone  off  with  his  plunder  early  in  the  morning.  A  reward  of  fifty  bars 
was  offered  for  his  apprehension,  and  the  detained  persons  discharged. 

Charles  Francis,  who  has  been  an  invalid  20  years,  and  long  lingering  in 
the  settlement  from  complicated  chronical  infirmities,  is  now  evidently  near 
his  end.  The  prescriptions  of  the  Surgeon  of  the  Porpoise,  procured  him 
some  temporary  relief;  but  nothing  could  remove  his  disease. 

For  ten  days  past,  there  has  been  a  religious  excitement  among  all  classes 
of  people,  of  a  most  extraordinary  character.  It  first  discovered  itself  in  the 
more  zealous  and  frequent  application  of  the  communicants  of  the  different 
religious  persuasions,  to  social  prayer.  Others  became  affected;  and  com- 
monly cried  out  as  if  in  the  deepest  mental  horror  and  distress  during  the  earlier 
stages.  Some  of  the  religious  assemblies  certainly  exhibited  a  scene  of  con- 
fusion, which  I  arn  sorry  to  say  the  conducting  individuals  seemed  too  willing 
to  encourage ;  and  in  a  few  instances,  the  decorum  of  the  house  of  prayer 
was  departed  from.  But  with  these  abatements,  it  is  most  evident,  that  all 
classes  of  people,  and  perhaps  every  individual  of  adult  age,  on  the  Cape,  has 


APPENDIX.  53 

be«n  very  wonderfully,  and  deeply  affected  with  the  great  Truths  of  the  Gos- 
pel. The  preachers  and  most  influential  members  of  the  different  religious 
bodies  were  cautioned,  and  repeatedly  advised  to  conduct  their  assemblies 
with  Christian  decency  and  order.  Some  of  them  profited  from  this  counsel ; 
and  after  a  few  days,  a  deep  and  deliberate  seriousness,  the  manifest  result  of 
a  cause  entirely  supernatural,  pervaded  the  very  souls  of  the  people.  The 
most  hardened  and  irreligious  were  subdued.  Some  of  our  most  turbulent 
subjects  have  assumed  an  entirely  altered  character  ;  which  I  am  persuaded, 
nothing  but  the  renovating  power  of  the  Word  and  Spirit  of  God  can  account 
for.  Their  conduct  has  become  strictly  exemplary.  They  have,  to  my 
knowledge,  in  a  great  variety  of  instances,  offered  every  satisfaction  in  their 
power  for  any  former  acts  tending  to  the  injury  of  others.  Upwards  of 
twenty  persons,  all  professing  the  faith  of  Christ  for  the  first  time,  have  been 
added  to  the  Methodist  Society — and  about  half  that  number  to  the  Baptist. 
I  am  at  this  date  of  (December  6th,)  transcribing  the  Journal,  and  add  with 
great  pleasure  and  gratitude  to  God,  that  the  revival  and  extension  of  religion 
among  us,  is  proving  itself  to  have  been  the  genuine  work  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  as  far  as  its  holy  fruits  have  yet  had  time  to  declare  themselves.  It  has 
done  more  to  render  our  people  industrious,  obedient,  humble,  just,  provident, 
attentive  and  affectionate  in  the  discharge  of  relative  duties,  than  all  the  hu- 
man instruction  and  discipline,  which  they  could  ever  receive.  To  the  Board, 
and  the  friends  of  Colonization,  the  event  may  justly  inspire  a  gratifying 
confidence  in  the  improved  character  of  their  Colonists ;  and  the  Christian, 
whose  views  range  in  a  more  extensive  and  a  sublimer  sphere,  will  derive 
from  it  a  gratification  peculiarly  his  own. 

Our  roads  have  not  been  one  week  clear  of  Spanish  and  French  Slaving 
Vessels,  since  the  sailing  of  the  Porpoise.  There  are  now  present  two — one 
under  each  flag. 

Monday,  September  27th.  Died  at  an  early  hour  this  morning,  Charles 
Francis,  from  Virginia,  per  the  Elizabeth,  aged  about  50. 

It  is  necessary  even  to  interrupt  other  laborers  in  order  to  prepare  a  rice 
granary.  It  is  to  be  constructed  of  good  materials,  and  be  two  stories  high. 
See  the  draft  and  description,  inclosed.  The  number  of  invalids  on  the  sick 
list  has  not  diminished  since  the  last  entry.  There  are  a  few  occasional  cases 
of  ague  and  fever,  but  all  slight  and  transient.  Every  scratch  or  puncture 
becomes  an  ulcer;  and  months  are  often  required  to  dry  it  up.  We  have  two 
cases  of  the  kind,  18  months  old. 

Lot  No.  119  is  assigned  to  the  Methodist  Society,  for  building  a  house  of 
worship  on.  They  have  already  prepared  a  part  of  the  timber. 

About  11  o'clock,  P.  M.,  the  two  Slaving  Vessels  in  the  roads,  commenced 
an  irregular  firing,  which  continued  for  several  hours.  Cause  unknown. 

Tuesday  28th.  Dark  and  rainy.  Day  light  discovered  both  the  Slavers  fast 
ashore  among  breakers,  about  1  1-2  miles  to  the  northward  of  the  Town, 
The  Frenchman  being  the  smallest,  had  gone  highest  on.  The  Spaniard 


APPENDIX. 

stranded  exactly  in  her  track,  and  at  pistol  shot  distance.  Both  are  totally 
lost.  At  half-past  7,  the  Agent  despatched  a  boat  with  a  letter  in  French,  of- 
fering the  crews  the  protection  of  their  lives.  The  boat  met  the  Spaniard's  jolly- 
boat,  ashore,  with  the  Captain  and  other  Officers,  who  threw  themselves  upon 
the  mercy  of  the  Colonial  Government.  They  reported,  that  at  ten  o'clock, 
the  night  preceding,  finding  themselves  adrift,  they  threw  out  an  anchor, 
which  refused  to  bring  the  Schooner  up ;  and  that  having  only  a  kedge  and 
hawser  more,  aboard,  they  were  obliged  to  go  ashore.  This  is  the  account  of 
the  pilot  (or  first  mate.)  The  Captain  states,  that  the  Mate,  whose  watch  it 
was  on  deck,  finding  the  Schooner  had  parted,  and  supposing  the  Frenchman 
standing  away  from  the  land,  blindly  followed  him  ashore,  without  consulting 
his  compass.  The  wind  and  weather  was  much  as  it  had  been  since  both 
vessels  came  to  an  anchor;  and  the  accident  is  involved  in  great  mystery. 
The  Captain  repoits  hiwiself,  the  Biscayenne,  Captain  de  Mina,  six  weeks 
from  Havanna,  with  a  valuable  cargo,  and  crew  of  28  persons  in  all ;  in  quest 
of ;  but  he  was  instantly  given  to  understand  that  no  attempt  at  decep- 
tion would  be  allowed,  and  desisted.  He  begged  the  Agent  to  receive  him- 
self, his  officers  and  men  under  his  protection ;  and  to  direct  such  measures 
to  be  taken  as  would  prove  most  effectual  in  saving  his  wreck  and  cargo. 
The  vessel  had  no  water  when  he  left  her — and  if  the  crew  and  natives 
could  be  restrained  from  plunder,  it  was  judged  that  a  considerable  amount  of 
property  could  be  saved  from  her. 

In  reply,  it  was  stated  that  both  the  laws  and  sentiments  of  the  American 
Nation,  were  utterly  hostile  to  the  object  of  their  voyage — which  the  Agent 
would  not  promote,  even  indirectly;  but  that  they  might  depend  on  the  pro- 
tection of  their  persons :  and  every  aid  in  securing  the  property  on  board  the 
wreck,  from  destruction,  which  the  laws  of  humanity  dictated  in  such  cases. 
They  resigned  themselves  and  their  vessel  up,  on  these  terms.  The  ship's 
papers  were  stated  to  have  been  lost,  and  only  a  defective  Invoice  preserved. 
Arrangements  being  made,  the  Agent  immediately  employed  the  crew  and 
such  of  the  settlers  as  chose  to  assist,  in  discharging  and  saving  the  cargo.  The 
Specie,  and  about  12  cases  of  dry  goods  were  soon  landed — when  the  vessel 
bilged,  keeled  and  filled.  Most  of  her  provisions  and  other  property  aboard, 
were  spoilt ;  and  the  difficulty  of  getting  the  heavy  cargo  out  of  the  hold,  be- 
came insuperable.  Several  accidents  occurred  from  the  violence  of  the  surf, 
by  which  half  a  dozen  boat  loads  of  property  were  lost.  The  seamen,  who 
were  chiefly  employed  aboard  in  breaking  out,  in  their  anxiety  to  gc-t  at  the 
most  valuable  articles,  threw  overboard,  and  otherwise  destroyed  a  large 
amount  of  provisions  and  goods.  During  the  whole  time  employed  about  the 
wreck,  the  rains  were  incessant  and  violent.  After  the  first  night,  the  state 
of  the  wreck  rendered  it  dangerous  for  any  one  to  attempt  remaining  on 
board  after  sun-set.  To  restrain  tho  depredations  of  the  natives  in  the  ab- 
sence of  the  people,  the  brass  field  piece  was  scut  down  to  the  nearest  projec- 
tion of  the  beach  from  the  American  sidv.'  ;  and  about  a  ilo/cii  rounds  of 


APPENDIX.  55 

fired  into  the  wreck  through  the  night.  But  even  this  precaution  did  not  de- 
ter the  natives,  many  thousands  of  whom  had  assembled  on  the  beach,  from 
stealing  aboard  and  plundering  to  a  large  amount.  In  the  meantime,  the 
Frenchman,  having  declined  all  communication  with  the  settlements,  was 
almost  wholly  abandoned  to  the  Kroo  and  other  country  people — not  a  2()th 
part  of  her  cargo  having  been  saved  to  the  owners.  The  crew  did  not  wholly 
give  her  up  'till  she  became  worthless,  and  ready  to  go  to  pieces.  Having 
raised  the  American  flag  on  the  Spaniard,  and  informed  the  natives  that  she 
belonged  to  the  Agent;  that  he  had  the  right  of  insisting  on  the  delivery  of  the 
property,  taken  from  aboard  of  her,  into  the  public  store-house,  Caia  of  the 
Island,  having  encouraged  his  people  to  secrete  a  few  casks  of  spirits  which 
they  had  brought  away,  and  refusing  to  restore  them,  made  it  necessary  for  a 
volley  of  musketry  to  be  discharged  on  the  people  employed  in  conveying  it 
away.  On  their  persisting,  two  or  three  shots  from  an  18  pounder  were 
directed  upon  them,  which  compelled  them  to  relinquish  their  stolen  property 
to  the  claimants.  No  material  injury  was  done  by  the  fire  of  the  fort.  It 
was  matter  of  mortification  that  the  powder  used  on  this  occasion  was  so 
damaged  by  the  climate,  (having  been  in  the  country  two  years,)  as  not  to  pro- 
ject a  round  shot,  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  distance  from  the  fort  to  the 
wreck.  Even  the  insolence  of  Kroo  Town  might  defy  the  effects  of  our 
heaviest  guns. 

It  was  soon  perceived  that  the  temptation  to  theft,  was  too  great,  to  render 
it  proper  to  permit  the  captured  Africans  to  assist  in  transporting  the  goods 
brought  ashore— three  of  them  having  been  sent  to  prison  the  first  hour  they 
were  employed,  for  petty  depredations.  It  was  indeed  difficult  to  procure  the 
faithful  discharge  of  the  trust  reposed  in  them,  from  some  of  the  settlers,  and 
measures  of  some  energy  became  necessary,  to  prevent  embezzlements  to  a 
considerable  amount.  Having  recovered  about  fifty  twenty-gallon  casks  of 
spirits,  fifteen  barrels  of  provisions,  one  hogshead  of  tobacco,  twenty  casks 
of  powder,  fifty  stand  of  arms,  two  great  guns,  one  of  which  is  a  double-forti- 
fied, long  revolving  nine,  about  a  thousand  pieces  of  cloth,  with  four  masts, 
two  anchors,  spars,  rigging,  copper,  and  a  variety  of  other  property,  to  the 
amount  in  all,  of  about  seven  thousand  dollars,  the  wreck  was  abandoned  to 
the  settlers  in  five  days,  as  not  worth  the  farther  attention  of  the  Government 
of  the  Colony,  and  on  the  19th  or  20th  day,  went  entirely  to  pieces. 

Nace  Butler,  a  very  respectable  settler,  was  unfortunately  drowned  by  the 
upsetting  of  a  canoe,  on  the  8th  of  October,  returning  from  the  wreck.  About 
five  of  the  natives  also  perished — chiefly  by  overloading  themselves  with  plun- 
der and  attempting  to  swim  ashore. 

The  Agent  used  every  effort  of  persuasion  and  authority,  to  induce  the  peo- 
ple employed  about  the  wreck  to  save  the  provisions.  But  they  were  neglected 
till  too  late  to  save  only  a  very  small  part. 

On  the  evening  of  the  2nd  of  October,  the  Agent,  from  care  and  fatigue, 
(having  for  near  a  week  been  loaded  with  additional  labors,  from  the  absence 


56  APPENDIX. 

of  Mr.  Mill,  the  Secretary,)  was  taken  sick  of  ague  and  fever;  and  for  a 
week  confined  to  his  bed,  under  a  course  of  medicine.  The  Rev.  C.  M.  War- 
ing having  returned  to  the  settlement  from  his  journey  to  the  leeward,  submit- 
ted a  very  satisfactory  report  of  the  success  of  his  mission.  It  is  inclosed  for 
the  perusal  of  the  Board.  It  will  be  seen  from  this  paper,  that  coffee  is  a  com- 
mon production  of  this  part  of  the  coast.  It  is  to  be  found  indeed,  in  every 
place  near  the  sea,  and  how  far  back  unknown;  from  the  Montserado  river,  to 
Grand  Bassa.  Since  Mr.  Waring's  return  a  slight  search,  has  discovered  hun- 
dreds of  the  trees,  and  perhaps,  thousands  of  the  plants,  growing  in  the  moun- 
tains, and  scattered  through  every  part  of  our  forests.  The  trees  attain  an  al- 
most unheard  of  size.  Often  rising  thirty  feet,  and  having  a  girth  of  fifteen 
inches  about  the  stem.  The  natives  have  agreed  to  bring  us  hundreds  of  bush- 
els of  the  berry,  as  soon  as  they  ripen  ;  which  will  be  in  December.  But  it 
remains  to  be  determined  wholly  by  the  event,  what  quantities  can  be  collect- 
ed. We  may  be  able  to  export  the  article  in  six  months.  We  may  not  obtain 
enough  for  our  own  consumption.  But  the  discovery  is  certainly  to  be  consid- 
ered as  one  of  the  most  important,  yet  made  in  Liberia. 

The  Agent  having  become  no  longer  able  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  his  station, 
the  Administration  passed  to-day,  into  the  hands  of  the  Rev.  C.  M.  Waring, 
Vice-Agent,  by  whom  it  was  for  about  ten  days  conducted  with  judgment  and 
propriety.  The  rains  are  nearly  incessant.  Their  violence  surpasses  any  for- 
mer example  since  the  Agent  has  resided  in  the  country. 

October  6lh.  The  Agent  remains  closely  confined,  but  slowly  recovering. 
On  Sunday  last,  four  persons  were  baptized  by  immersion.  The  rains  are  so 
incessant  as  to  spread  a  gloom  over  all  surrounding  nature,  and  keep  every 
thing,  bedding,  clothing,  books,  and  stationary  constantly  wet.  Labor  has  for 
some  time  been  nearly  at  a  stand,  in  the  settlement.  The  bones  of  Nace  But- 
ler's body,  have  been  recovered,  without  an  ounce  of  flesh  upon  them.  The 
river  abounds  with  ravenous  fish  of  all  sizes.  The  natives  are  in  much  great- 
er fear  of  one,  weighing  about  twelve  pounds,  but  which  seizes  his  prey  with 
amazing  energy,  than  of  the  Shark. 

October  8th.  There  are  ten  slaving  vessels,  including  the  two  wrecks  ashore, 
between  Gallinas  and  Trade-town.  Three  weeks  ago,  a  Spaniard  having  a 
badly  assorted  cargo  ashore  at  Grand  Bassa,  fired  into,  and  instantly  seized 
upon  a  Frenchman  having  two  hundred  slaves  aboard,  and  quite  ready  for  sea. 
There  had  been  no  previous  provocation.  Having  transferred  all  the  slaves  to 
his  own  vessel,  and  compelled  the  Frenchman  to  accept  in  lieu  thereof  an  or- 
der for  his  cargo  ashore,  he  took  his  leave,  and  made  sail  for  the  colonies.  The 
Frenchman  a  few  days  after,  lost  his  mate  by  accident,  and  has  since  died  him- 
self, of  vexation  and  grief.  The  vessel  is  still  at  Bassa. 


APPENDIX.  57 

Remarks  on  the  most  economical  mode  of  subsisting  the 
Colony,  in  its  infant  state. 

To  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board  of 

Managers  of  the  American  Colonization  Society: 

It  is  the  true  point  of  policy,  to  draw  from  all  the  resources  of  the  neighbor- 
ing countries,  without  depending  ultimately  on  any  but  our  own.  Experience 
proves,  that  for  large  quantities  of  provisions,  for  clothing,  and  very  many  of 
the  conveniences  and  comforts  of  life,  the  Colony  must  for  many  years,  look 
beyond  its  own  limits. 

The  inquiry  is.  can  these  supplies  be  obtained  most  economically,  and  cer- 
tainly, from  beyond  sea,  or  in  this  country?  and  previously,  it  ought  to  be  as- 
certained, whether  the  country  is  able  to  afford  the  Colony  these  supplies  at  all. 
To  this  I  shall  reply,  by  stating  the  resources  of  this  part  of  Africa. 

From  Cape  Palmas,  three  days'  sail  to  the  leeward,  to  the  river  Sesters,  which 
is  distant  from  the  Cape  one  hundred  miles  in  the  same  direction,  the  country 
abounds  in  cattle.  The  Dutch  and  English  purchase  them  in  great  numbers 
lor  their  establishments  on  Cape-Coast.  The  price  paid  for  them  is  from  five 
to  eight  bars,  and  I  arn  informed  that  a  very  few  days  are  sufficient  to  make  up 
a  cargo.  The  only  reason  why  the  experiment  of  obtaining  from  this  quarter 
the  meat  provisions  of  the  Colony  has  not  been  made,  is,  the  want  of  a  vessel 
of  sufficient  burthen  to  bring  a  cargo  of  live  stock.  In  the  dry  season,  a  vessel 
of  the  Fidelity's  tonnage,  could  easily  carry  eighty  small  bullocks.  The  trip 
might  be  made  in  from  ten  to  fourteen  days. 

That  extensive  district  of  the  interior,  known  by  the  general  name  of  the 
Gurrah  and  Condoe  countries,  commencing  about  one  day's  walk  to  the  north- 
eastward, and  reaching  as  far  inland,  as  our  geographical  information  extends, 
rears  a  fine  breed  of  cattle.  Owing  to  the  desolating  effects  of  the  slave  trade, 
they  are  presumed  to  be  far  less  abundant  than  in  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Palmas. 
The  price  is  consequently  higher,  and  the  number  that  could  be  bought,  not  so 
great.  But  the  breed  is  finer,  and  the  expense  attending  their  purchase,  and 
conveyance  to  the  settlement,  less  by  one-half.  The  Colony  has  already  pro- 
cured a  number  of  very  excellent  bullocks  from  this  quarter;  and  a  measure  is 
in  progress  for  obtaining  on  the  best  terms,  as  large  anj  additional  supply  as 
our  limited  means  will  purchase. 

Goats  and  fowls  ought  never  to  be  sought  for  hereafter,  out  of  the  limits  of 
the  settlement.  But  every  part  of  the  surrounding  country  abounds  with  both, 
and  in  order  to  obtain  any  number  of  either,  you  have  only  to  purchase. 

The  two  slaving  stations  of  Cape  Mount  and  Cape  Montserado,  have  for 
several  ages  desolated  of  every  thing  valuable,  the  intervening  very  fertile  and 
beautiful  tract  of  country.  The  forests  have  remained  untouched— all  moral 
virtue  been  extinguished  in  the  people,  and  theirindustry  annihilated,  by  this  one 

H 


56  APPEMH.Y. 

lumoua  cause.  They  are  often  embarrassed  for  the  necessaries  of  existence, 
and  never  acquire  a  surplus  of  provisions.  The  Colony  can  derive  nothing  from 
these  people,  a  little  wood  excepted — worth  the  pursuit. 

As  long  as  the  Colony  remains  at  peace  with  the  neighboring  tribes,  cattle 
may  be  had  from  the  interior,  without  difficulty.  But  not  longer.  For  it  is 
easily  in  the  power  of  the  weakest  tribe  in  the  country  effectually  to  cutoff  all 
intercourse,  by  way-laying  the  path.  Buthaving  once  stocked  the  settlement, 
we  should  at  no  distant  period,  be  so  well  supplied,  as  to  be  able  to  meet  any 
temporary  interruption,  without  inconvenience.  Provided  the  Colony  could  be 
accommodated  with  the  use  of  a  vessel,  two  or  three  times  a  year,  to  bring  as 
many  cargoes  from  the  leeward  coast;  the  certainty  of  the  supply  would  be 
much  greater. 

There  are  two  more  articles  of  provisions,  even  more  important  than  beef. 
These  are  Rice,  and  Oil.  The  latter,  until  six  months  old,  answers  every  pur- 
pose of  Olive-oil,  as  used  for  culinary  purposes  in  the  south  of  Europe.  But- 
ter and  lard,  have  all  their  uses  fulfilled,  and  perhaps  with  advantage  to  the 
health  of  the  people,  by  the  Palm-oil.  After  the  first  six  months,  it  becomes  ne- 
cessary to  subject  it  to  a  very  simple,  refining  process,  which  leaves  the  oil 
nearly  tasteless— rectifying  entirely  any  previous  tendency  to  rancidity.  Very 
little  of  this  article  is  ever  to  be  procured  to  the  northward  of  the  river  Junk. 

Below,  it  may  in  the  proper  season — which  is  throughout  the  dry  months — be 
purchased  in  any  quantity.  The  first  cost,  is  half  a  bar  the  gallon— which  in 
cookery,  is  equal  to  six  pounds  of  butter. 

Rice  is  produced  every  where,  except  in  the  very  vicinity  of  slave  trading 
stations ;  where  there  is  never  sufficient  industry  to  produce  any  thing.  The 
country  lining  the  sea-coast  from  the  Junk,  thirty  miles  below,  to  Cape  Mount 
fifty  miles  above  the  settlement,  limits  its  annual  growth  of  rice  to  the  con- 
sumption of  the  inhabitants.  Farther  above,  the  surplus  is  bought  up  for 
Sierra  Leone.  Below,  it  remains  open  to  us. 

Rice  is  most  abundant  from  October  to  February.  A  few  hundred  bushels 
are  annually  in  this  season,  brought  by  the  country  people  to  the  settlement — 
but  never  enough  to  supply  even  its  present  demand.  More,  will  perhaps  nev- 
er be  brought  in  without  attention  bestowed  on  our  part,  to  its  purchase,  while 
the  coast  continues  to  be  as  much  frequented  by  slaving  vessels,  as  at  the  pres- 
ent time.  Every  cargo  that  leaves  the  coast  requires  a  large  supply  of  rice, 
and  often  the  master  pays  enormously  for  it.  The  native  growers  of  rice,  are 
disposed  to  reserve  it  for  these  occasions.  Hence  it  is  necessary  to  establish  a 
temporary  factory  either  at  the  Junk,  at  Grand  Bassa,  or  at  Grand  Battou,  dur- 
ing all  the  former  part  of  the  dry  season,  in  order  to  make  sure  of  a  supply  for 
the  Colony. 

With  this  precaution,  there  would  be  no  uncertainty  in  securing  as  much  as 
will  meet  the  annual  consumption  of  the  settlement.  But  the  whole  expense 
must  be  reckoned  about  two  and  a  half  bars  the  heaped  bushel,  or  about  five 
American  pecks. 


APPENDIX.  59 

I  am  at  the  date  of  these  remarks,  about  to  carry  a  young  man  of  the  settle- 
ment, with  goods,  to  purchase  six  or  eight  hundred  bushels  of  rice,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Junk.  He  will  there  establish  himself,  and  remain  till  recalled. 
The  distance  may  be  walked  by  a  native,  in  twelve  hours. 

There  is  no  question  then,  ofthe  capability  of  this  country  to  furnish  the  Colo- 
ny with  provisions.  A  little  system  and  providence,  is  all  that  is  necessary  to 
make  the  supply  certain.  The  only  inquiry  remaining  relates  to  the  compara- 
tive expense  of  provisioning  the  new-comers,  and  invalids  ofthe  Colony  from 
America,  and  from  this  country. 

My  own  sentiments  on  this  subject,  I  believe,  are  well  known  to  the  Board 
already. — So  much  more  economical  have  I  found  the  purchase  of  African, 
than  the  use  of  American  provisions,  that  I  have  often  had  the  latter  sold,  to 
purchase  the  former.  The  experiment  has  proved  the  saving  to  be  nearly  one 
half. — Take  the  following  estimate  in  illustration: — 

One  barrel  of  beef  costs  the  Society,  on  arriving  in  Africa,  $13  50  cents  at 
least.  This  sum,  in  bars  of  40  cents,  (which  is  more  than  the  first-cost  aver- 
age of  the  bar  in  Africa,)  is  within  a  fraction  of  thirty-four  bars,  and  on  the 
most  disadvantageous  terms,  will  pay  for  two  prime  bullocks.  The  average 
weight  of  the  Condoe  bullocks  is  three  hundred  pounds.  Two  bullocks  at  this  rate 
make  three  barrels  of  beef.  Three  barrels  of  African  beef,  is  certainly  equal 
to  two  from  America : — or,'  six  hundred  pounds  of  fresh  beef,  will  go  further 
for  subsistence  than  two  barrels  of  salted  beef. — The  saving  is  at  least  one  hun- 
dred per  centum. 

For  bread-stuffs — one  barrel  of  flour  on  arriving  in  the  Colony,  on  the  most 
favorable  terms,  must  have  cost  $9  50  cents— or  (the  bar  at  forty,)  about  24 
bars.  This  amount  of  goods  will  pay  for  forty-eight  pecks,  or  four  barrels  of 
rice,  delivered  at  the  Colony.  The  saving  to  the  funds,  is  the  difference,  for 
the  purposes  of  subsistence,  between  one  barrel  of  flour,  and  four  barrels  of 
rice.  The  flour  weighs  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  pounds. — The  rice,  seven 
hundred  and  fifty. 

I  therefore  beg  to  propose,  that  the  Society  will  authorize,  and  furnish  the 
resident  Agent  with  the  means  to  provision  the  settlement  chiefly  from  the 
country  in  which  it  is  situated. 

The  goods  required,  and  their  proportionate  quantity,  (er  value  in  America,) 
are, 

Tobacco,  5  parts. 

Whiskey,          -  2      « 

Blue*  and  White  India  or  English  Imitation  Bafts,      -          2      " 
Printed  Calicoes,  1      " 

Printed  Cotton  Handkerchiefs,  1      « 

Black  and  Flag  Silk    do.  1-2   « 

*  Bine,  Red,  Striped,  and  Check  Domestic  Cotton  Stuffs,  will  answer  the 
trade  as  well  (not  better)  per  yard,  as  the  India  Bafts. 


60  APPENDIX. 

Gun  Powder,     -  1     part. 

Cheap  large  calibre  Guns          -  1  " 

Small  (pound)  Beads  of  various  colors,  2  " 

Mugs,  Bowls,  Pitchers,  white  or  colored,  -  2  " 

Clasp  Knives,    -  -  1-4  " 

Tobacco  Pipes,  2  " 

Ready  made  Shirts  and  Trowsers,        -  -  1-4  " 

Dividing  the  whole  sum  into  20    " 

A  larger  supply  of  Salt,  than  heretofore,  will  be  necessary  in  case  the  fore- 
going arrangement  takes  place. 

In  order  to  ensure  the  requisite  supply  of  Rice  and  Oil,  a  boat  of  burthen, 
adapted  at  the  same  time  for  sailing,  is  absolutely  necessary.  It  is  my  opinion 
that  a  boat  of  7  or  8  tons  burthen,  and  answering  to  a  description  which  fol- 
lows on  the  next  page,  would  be  more  useful,  and  the  risk  attending  the  navi- 
gation of  it  much  less  than  a  vessel  of  a  larger  denomination.  It  cannot  be 
concealed,  that  we  have  not  skill  and  energy  enough  to  navigate  a  vessel  of 
burthen.  We  have  no  port  to  shelter  one;  and  I  will  add  that  we  have 
neither  the  resources  for  employing  and  paying  for,  nor  a  sufficient  public 
object  to  answer  by  such  a  vessel.  Your  Agent  cannot  be  your  Merchant ; 
and  without  a  Merchant  to  manage  a  vessel  of  40  to  60  tons,  it  will  inevitably 
prove  a  losing  concern.  If  you  will  send  out  an  American  crew — and  an 
experienced  factor,  such  a  vessel  may  be  useful,  but  not  otherwise. 

Permit  me,  therefore,  with  deference,  to  recommend,  earnestly,  that  by  the 
next  conveyance,  be  sent  out  two  boat  frames,  on  precisely  the  same  model — 
the  one  to  be  housed — the  other  to  be  put  up  by  the  Carpenters  of  the  Colony, 
for  the  use  of  the  Agent.  Keel  30  feet,  and  Beam  7  1-2,  uniting  both  burthen 
ami  good  sailing  qualities  ;  to  be  half  decked,  and  Schooner  rigged  and  copper- 
ed. The  Timbers  ready  to  put  together,  Spars  ditto,  Sails  made,  Cordage 
in  the  coil,  Plank  in  the  rough,  Copper  in  sheets,  with  Nails,  with  fastenings, 
Rudder  ready,  with  half  a  dozen  barrels  of  Pitch  and  Tar,  for  repairing  our 
water  cralt  generally,  and  four  sweeps  to  each  boat.  I  could  put  such  a  boat 
up,  and  fit  her  for  use  in  a  very  few  weeks.  She  could  pass  out  and  in,  over 
the  bar — could  make  trips  between  Sierra  Leone  and  Palmas  for  six  months 
of  the  year  with  perfect  safety — could  carry  250  bushels  of  Rice,  or  4  tons  of 
Wood  with  ease;  and  could  be  navigated  by  two  men  and  four  Kroomen. 
We  could  command  all  the  trade  which  an  Agent  ought  to  make,  and  save  to  the 
friends  of  the  Colony,  thousands,  annually.  The  second  frame,  in  case  it 
should  be  furnished,  &c.  would  be  saved,  for  use  in  case  of  accident  to  the 
first. 

I  hope  the  Board  will  do  me  the  justice  to  believe  that  these  suggestions 
are  the  result  of  all  my  past  experience  in  conducting  their  concerns,  as  well 
as  the  most  accurate  calculation  in  my  power  to  make.  It  may  look  greater 
to  have  a  large  vessel ;  but  the  expense  will  utterly  exceed  the  utility  of 


APPENDIX.  61 

such  a  craft  over  the  boats  described ;  and  with  the  boats,  all  the  Rice  neces- 
sary for  the  consumption  of  four  times  the  present  number  of  Colonists,  may 
be  procured  ;  and  as  much  Wood  and  Ivory  brought  as  can  be  readily  bought, 
while  in  the  pursuit  of  provisions. 

I  would  farther  suggest,  that  the  packet  or  chartered  vessels  arriving  in  fu- 
ture, be  subject  to  be  sent,  if  the  Agent  should  require  the  service,  to  Cape 
Palmas,  for  a  load  of  Bullocks.  The  Agent  ought  to  exercise  a  discretion  of 
this  nature,  only  in  the  dry  season,  unless  the  exigencies  of  the  Colony  should 
very  pressingly  demand  it. 

I  have  drawn  out  this  paper  to  a  length  not  intended.  But  the  Board  will 
excuse  me  for  being  minute  on  a  subject  which  so  nearly  relates  to  the  pros- 
perity of  the  settlement.  I  have  farther  to  request  that  it  be  made  the  matter 
of  a  separate  and  particular  investigation,  and  arrangement  by  the  Executive 
Committee  ;  of  whom,  I  have  the  honor  to  remain, 

The  devoted  servant, 

J.  ASHMUN. 

Monrovia,  December,  1824. 


To  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board  of 

Managers  of  the  American  Colonization  Society  : 

There  is  a  standing  prohibition  of  the  sale  and  use  of  ardent  Spirits  in  the 
Colony,  enrolled  among  the  earliest  special  arrangements  of  the  Board  of 
Managers.  But  the  paper,  containing  the  only  registry  of  those  arrangements, 
having  been  withdrawn  from  the  Colony  by  my  predecessors  ;  I  never  saw  or 
knew  of  its  existence  'till  sent  out  in  May,  1823.  But  by  the  same  vessel, 
also  arrived  19  barrels  of  Spirits,  all  of  which  was  either  sold  or  used  in  the 
Colony.  Such  a  commentary  on  the  prohibition,  was  certainly  not  calculated 
to  place  the  meaning  of  the  Board  in  a  very  clear  light ;  and  I  now  write  to, 
desire  instruction. 

Although  the  sin  of  drunkenness  cannot  be  said  to  be  a  prevailing  vice 
among  us,  yet  there  is  a  tendency  to  an  excessive  use  of  rum  nd  whiskey, 
very  apparent  in  a  number  of  individuals  ;  and  a  habit  of  the  daily  use  of  it, 
threatens  to  become  in  a  short  time,  quite  too  general.  No  man  is  so  poor  as 
not  occasionally,  either  by  his  labor,  or  petty  barter,  to  buy  a  gallon  of  ardent 
Spirits  ;  and  twenty  persons  in  the  Colony  keep  the  article  on  hand  for  sale. 
The  pretext  is,  to  make  out  a  good  assortment  of  trade  goods  for  the  natives. 
But  whoever  pays  for,  obtains  what  he  pleases.  I  shall  immediately  apply 
some  restraint  on  the  abuse  of  the  article.  But  the  Committee  are  doubtless 
well  apprised  of  the  extreme  difficulty  of  regulating  a  thing  of  this  nature, 
which  is  directly  calculated  to  work  the  utter  ruin  of  the  Colony.  I  am  fully 
of  opinion  that  the  use  of  Spirits  cannot  be  wholly,  and  at  once,  abolished,  as 
long  as  a  trading  vessel  is  permitted  to  touch  within  50  miles  of  the  Cape. 
In  that  case,  it  would  be  secretly  introduced — secretly  distributed — and  se- 
cretly used  by  all  who  have  a  taste  for  it.  But  I  beg  to  assure  the  Committee 


0?  APPENDIX. 

that  something  must  be  done  in  the  matter.  Leave  the  thing  wholly  to  the 
discretion  of  the  settlers,  and  in  six  months  we  have  tippling  shops,  tipplers, 
and  drunkards,  forming  in  every  part  of  the  settlement. 

I  have  the  honor,  &cc. 
January  18/A,  1325.  J.  ASHMUN. 


No.  7. 

CAPE  MONTSERADO,          \ 
NOVEMBER  23,  1324.    5 
SIR:— 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Gurley  on  his  late  visit  to  this  Colony  very  naturally  witness- 
ed with  great  regret  the  small  progress  yet  made  among  us,  of  Agricultural  in- 
dustry and  improvements  ;  and  concurred  in  opinion  with  myself  that  the  gen- 
eral neglect  was  in  part  owing  to  the  embarrassment  necessarily  felt  by  the  set- 
tlers from  the  great  change  of  the  climate,  and  the  consequent  necessity  of 
adopting  new  modes  of  tillage,  and  new  crops,  to  which  none  had  been  previ- 
ously accustomed.  He  desired  me  to  draw  up  the  outlines  of  an  Agricultural 
Manual,  from  the  best  sources  at  my  command,  and  send  it  home  to  receive 
such  a  revision,  as  the  friends  of  the  design  might  afford  it  in  America ;  and 
thence,  if  the  Board  of  Managers  should  concur,  be  sent  back  in  a  printed  form, 
to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  settlers.  You  will  receive  with  this  the  most 
useful  observations  which  I  have  been  able,  in  the  multitude  of  other  duties,  to 
throw  together  in  manuscript.  It  will  show  perhaps  little  more  than  my  wil- 
lingness to  aid  in  the  advancement  of  the  Agriculture  of  the  Colony.  But  I 
hope  that  Mr.  Gurley's  inquiries  on  the  subjects  of  which  it  treats,  white  in  the 
West  Indies,  on  his  return  passage,  will  have  obtained  something,  and  that  the 
recollections  and  science  of  Dr.  Thornton,  and  other  gentlemen  in  Washington, 
will  supply  other  materials,  which  I  should  be  glad  to  see  incorporated  in  the 
work,  with  such  corrections  and  retrenchments  as  the  utilily  of  the  little  com- 
pend  calls  for. 

I  have  aimed  to  simplify  the  style  and  language,  in  accommodation  to  the 
ideas  and  conceptions  of  the  illiterate;  and  in  the  introductory  parts,  to  impress 
a  few  economical  maxims  by  a  direct  reference  to  local  facts  and  circumstances. 
The  necessity  of  those  remarks  has  been  but  too  long  and  anxiously  felt  by 
myself;  and  I  presume  by  Dr.  Ayres,  during  and  since  his  residence  at  the 
Cape.  Should  it  be  printed,  I  beg  that  it  may  be  given  in  charge  to  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Gurley  to  read  the  proof-sheets,  and  that  the  type  may  be  large. 

Respectfully,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 
Secretary  of  the  j^ in.  Col.  Society.  J.  ASHMUN. 


THE  LIBERIA  FARMER; 

OR, 

COLONIST'S   GUIDE 

TO 

INDEPENDENCE  AND  DOMESTIC  COMFORT. 

INSCRIBED  tO  ALL  THE    INDUSTRIOUS  SETTLERS  OF  LIBERIA, 
BY    THEIR    FRIEND   AND   AGENT, 

J.  ASHMUN. 


1325. 


INTRODUCTION. 

You  have  come  together  from  different  and  distant  States  in  America.  The 
climates,  soils,  productions  and  mode  of  Agriculture,  to  which  you  were  there 
accustomed,  are  very  various  ;  but  all  are  widely  different  from  those  of  Africa. 
Some  of  you  were  mechanics  in  your  native  country,  but  you  are  all  farmers 
here ;  and  have  every  thing  belonging  to  the  business,  to  learn  anew.  Ameri- 
can crops,  and  the  American  modes  of  tillage,  must  nearly  all  be  given  up  ; 
and  a  new  system  of  farming  adopted.  Of  this,  I  can  easily  convince  you. 

Look  at  our  African  seasons,  and  compare  them  with  the  seasons  in  America. 
Here,  you  can  find  neither  Winter,  Spring,  Summer  nor  Autumn.  These  in- 
teresting changes  have  disappeared  from  the  African  year.  Now,  the  whole 
system  of  cropping  in  America  depended  on  the  seasons.  Some  grains  and 
fruits  in  that  country,  you  recollect,  required  even  the  frosts  and  snows  of  its 
terrible  winters.  Before  other  seeds  could  be  planted,  it  was  necessary  the 
warm  Spring  months  should  be  considerably  advanced.  Three  or  four  Sum- 
mer months,  then  made  up  nearly  the  only  season  of  the  year,  in  which  vege- 
tables and  grains  would  grow  and  ripen.  The  last  months  of  Summer  and  all 
the  Autumnal  months,  varying  with  the  nature  of  the  crop,  were  the  harvest 
season. 

But  not  having  any  of  these  seasons  in  Africa,  you  must  learn  an  entirely 
•different  way  of  farming,  and  turn  your  attention  to  new  productions,  agreeing 


64  APPENDIX. 

better  with  your  new  climate  and  seasons.  It  is  the  intention  of  this  h'ttJe 
treatise,  to  assist  you  to  acquire  this  necessary  information,  in  the  shortest, 
lime,  and  use  it  in  the  best  possible  way.  It  does  not  profess  to  teach  a  per- 
fect system  of  African  farming.  That  can  only  be  discovered  by  the  light  of 
a  great  number  of  experiments  and  facts,  which  depend  on  your  own  future 
industry  and  observation.  But  it  is  all-important,  you  should  begin  your 
fanning  operations  in  possession  of  all  the'* correct  information  that  can  be  ob- 
tained ;  and  lay  aside  all  your  prejudices  in  favor  of  American  modes,  which 
will  not  answer  in  this  country.  This  is  the  only  way  to  (urn  your  labor  and 
time  to  any  good  account ;  and  support  your  families  with  credit  and  comfort, 
by  the  proceeds  of  your  own  industry. 

On  this  last  point,  suffer  me  to  put  down  two  or  three  remarks,  of  the  truth 
and  importance  of  which  you  cannot  be  too  sensible.  The  first  is,  That  the 
cultivation  of  your  rich  lands,  is  the  only  way  you  will  ever  find  out  to  indepen- 
dence, comfort  and  wealth. 

It  is  hard  for  some  of  you  to  understand,  or  to  believe  this  maxim.  But  it 
is,  nevertheless,  most  true,  and  capable  of  being  clearly  proved. 

I  will  suppose  you  to  be  a  mechanic,  and  that  your  trade  is  worth  one  dol- 
lar a  day — you  have,  then,  300  dollars  a  year  to  support  yourself  on.  But  if 
agriculture  is  neglected  here  generally,  you  must  send  to  America  for  every 
article  of  provisions  and  clothing  ;  or  buy  of  trading  vessels,  which  will  make 
you  pay  100  per  cent,  profit,  besides  expenses.  What  will  a  dollar  laid  out  in 
this  way,  buy  you  ?  Not  more  than  thirty  or  forty  cents'  wrorth  in  America, 
If  you  are  single,  you  may  in  this  way  feed  and  clothe  yourself  poorly.  But, 
if  you  have  a  family,  you  must  all  suffer  for  want  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  if 
you  rely  on  your  mechanical  labors  alone. 

But.  perhaps  you  hope  to  buy  rice,  fowls  and  plantains,  of  the  natives  ;  and 
40  cenls  a  day  will  go,  you  imagine,  a  great  way  with  them. 

Suppose,  howrever,  the  natives  should  do  what  they  often  have  done  aheady, 
prohibit  all  trade  and  intercourse  with  you  ?  Rely  on  it,  the  moment  they  find 
you  depending  on  them,  they  will  do  so  ;  or  else,  make  you  pay  four  or  five 
prices  for  every  thing  they  sell  you.  But,  if  there  is  no  agriculture,  there 
will  be  nothing  in  the  Colony  to  pay  mechanics  with  ;  and  consequently,  no 
employment  for  them.  The  natives,  likewise,  are  often  too  poor  to  feed  them- 
selves. And  had  they  cassada  to  sell  you,  and  you  tobacco  to  buy  it ;  are  you 
so  lost  to  all  sense  of  shame,  as  to  be  willing  to  depend  on  a  half  naked  Savage 
to  feed  you  ? 

But  there  is  another  bewitching  spell,  which  I  fear  will  keep  some  of  you  in 
poverty,  debt,  and  wretchedness,  as  long  as  you  live.  I  mean,  That  most  de- 
ceptive hope  of  supporting  yourselves  by  trade. 

You  could  not  succeed  in  the  attempt,  if  you  had  all  been  bred  merchants  ; 
and  for  this  good  reason,  the  Colony  has  not  trade  enough  to  support  twenty 
families.  The  natives  bring  you  nothing  but  Camwood,  and  small  Ivory, 
No  Camwood  grows  on  your  own  land,  and  all  the  natives  cut  between  this 


APPENDIX.  65 

and  Cape  Mount,  does  not  amount  to  300  tons.  Trading  Vessels  will  always 
take  one-half  of  this,  for  they  can  always  undersell  you.  No  man  in  Africa 
can  make  more  than  20  dollars  clear  profit ,  on  aton;  so  that  3000  dollars  is  the 
most  you  all  can  ever  make  on  this  article  :  and  this  sum  in  Africa,  will  sup- 
port ten  families.  ISTow,  suppose  100  families  depend  on  this  trade  ?  They 
may  make  30  dollars  each.  And  30  dollars  will  buy  one  barrel  of  Pork,  and 
one  of  Flour,  and  nothing  more.  They  must  starve. 

The  Ivory  part  is  not  worth  a  fourth  part  as  much  as  the  Camwood.  The 
clear  profits  it  would  afford,  are  not  worth  five  dollars  to  a  family  :  and  yet, 
some  of  you  hope  to  support  your  families,  and  grow  rich  by  trading  ! — Twenty 
poles  of  Lima  Beans,  will  be  a  much  surer  dependence,  and  actually  go 
farther  towards  supporting  a  family,  than  the  whole  trade  in  Camwood  and 
Ivory,  if  it  was  equally  shared  among  you  all.  You  can  make  the  calculation 
for  yourselves.  Some  of  you  have  already  gone  too  deep  in  trade.  And  you 
feel  the  bad  effects  of  it.  Show  me  a  man  without  a  good  house,  without 
improvements  on  his  lands,  who  is  deep  in  debt,  and  pinched  and  harrassed  in 
all  his  circumstances  ;  and  I  will  show  you  a  man  who  has  foolishly  depended 
on  trading  with  the  country  people  for  a  support.  Look  around,  and  tell  me 
how  many  exceptions  there  are  to  this  remark.  Trade  and  day-labor  as  a  me- 
chanic, may  then  be  reckoned  as  your  worst  dependence.  If  you  have  no  other 
you  must  content  yourself  to  keep  as  poor  as  a  native,  while  you  live. 

"  Have  we  then  been  sent  to  Africa  to  starve?"  No.  You  may  if  you  please, 
and  God  gives  you  health,  become  as  independent,  comfortable  and  happy,  as 
you  ought  to  be  in  this  world.  The  upland  of  the  Cape,  is  not  the  best  The 
Creator  has  formed  it  for  a  town,  and  not  for  plantations.  But  the  flat  lands 
around  you,  and  particularly  your  farms,  have  as  good  a  soil  as  can  be  met 
with  in  any  country.  They  will  produce  two  crops  of  corn,  sweet  potatoes,  and 
several  other  vegetables  in  a  year.  They  will  yield  a  larger  crop  than  the  best 
soils  in  America.  And  they  will  produce  a  number  of  very  valuable  articles, 
for  which  in  the  United  States,  millions  of  money  are  every  year  paid  away  to 
foreigners.  One  acre  of  rich  land,  well  tilled,  will  produce  you  three  hundred 
dollars'  worth  of  Indigo.  Half  an  acre  may  be  made  to  grow  half  a  ton  of  ar- 
row root.  Four  acres  laid  out  in  Coffee-plants,  will,  after  the  third  year,  pro- 
duce you  a  clear  income  of  two  or  three  hundred  dollars.  Half  an  acre  of  cotton- 
trees  will  clothe  your  whole  family  ;  and,  except  a  little  hoeing,  your  wife  and 
children  can  perform  the  whole  labor  of  cropping  and  manufacturing  it.  One 
acre  of  canes  will  make  you  independent  of  all  the  world,  for  the  sugar  you  use 
in  your  family.  One  acre  set  with  fruit  trees,  and  well  attended,  will  furnish  you 
the  year  round,  with  more  Plantains,  Bananas,  Oranges,  Limes,  Guavas,  Pa- 
paws,  and  Pine  apples,  than  you  will  ever  gather.  Nine  months  of  the  year, 
you  may  grow  fresh  vegetables  every  month,  and  some  of  you  who  have  low- 
land plantations,  may  do  so  throughout  the  year.  Soon,  all  the  vessels  visit- 
ing the  coast,  will  touch  here  for  refreshments.  You  never  will  want  a  ready 
market  for  your  fruits  and  vegetables.  Your  other  crops  being  articles  of  ex- 

I 


66  APPENDIX. 

port,  will  always  command  the  cash,  or  something  better.  With  these  resour- 
ces, (and  nothing  but  industry  and  perseverance  is  necessary  to  realize  them,) 
you  cannot  fail  to  have  the  means  of  living  as  comfortably,  independently,  and 
happily  as  any  people  on  earth.  If  you  forfeit  such  prospects,  through  indolence, 
or  folly,  thank  yourselves  for  it.  No  one  else,  I  promise  you,  will  condole 
with  you. 

This  little  treatise  is  intended  only  for  the  industrious,  and  for  such  as  are 
willing  to  become  so.  And  in  order  to  assist  your  industry  to  produce  its  full 
effects,  I  shall  throw  together  the  brief  notices  which  I  have  to  offer,  into  seve- 
ral short  chapters,  each  one  relating  to  some  subject  in  agriculture,  which  you 
may  directly  reduce  to  practice. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  CLIMATE  OF  AFRICA, 

Is  uniformly  sultry  and  moist.  But  the  heat  is  not  excessive.  You  who 
keep  thermometers,  will  perceive  the  mercury  to  stand  in  the  wet  season,  at 
about  77  degrees,  and  in  the  dry,  after  sunrise,  at  about  82  degrees.  Now  the 
heat  of  a  summers'  day  in  Baltimore,  and  Richmond,  is  from  84  to  90  degrees. 
So  that  the  heat  of  Liberia  is  never  insupportable  ;  and  commonly,  very  com- 
fortably moderate.  But,  the  difference  of  heat  at  night  and  by  day,  seldom  ex- 
ceeds three  or  four  degrees  of  the  scale.  In  America  it  often  sinks  and  rises 
in  the  twenty-four  hours,  more  than  ten  or  twelve  degrees.  This  uniform  heat 
has  a  most  favorable  effect  on  the  growth  of  plants  and  vegetables.  It  sustains, 
the  vegetable  life  in  a  constant,  and  unabated  state  of  activity.  The  cold  nights 
and  cold  storms  of  America,  never  are  felt  here.  Consequently,  as  long  as  your 
plantations  and  gardens  have  moisture  sufficient,  you  may  expect  every  blade 
of  Rice,  every  stalk  of  corn,  every  fruit-tree  and  vegetable,  to  flourish  with  the 
utmost  luxuriance.  The  papaw  and  plantain  trees  are  a  good  example  of  the 
power  of  an  uniformly  heated  climate,  to  accelerate  vegetation.  You  may  see 
in  the  gardens,  many  of  the  former,  not  more  than  fifteen  months  from  the  seed, 
already  fifteen  inches  round  the  stem,  and  fifteen  feet  high,  with  several  pecks 
of  ripening  fruit.  Clear  your  lands ;  plant  your  crops  ;  keep  the  weeds  down; 
and  the  most  favorable  climate  in  the  world,  alone,  under  the  direction  of  a 
bountiful  Providence,  will  do  more  for  you  than  all  your  toil  and  care  could  ac- 
complish in  America. 


CHAPTER    II. 
THE  AFRICAN  SEASONS, 

Are  very  properly  divided  into  the  wet,  and  dry.  The  wet  season  begins  at 
Montserado,  about  the  10th,  or  15th  of  May;  after  three  or  four  weeks  of  fre- 
quent thunder-showers,  and  very  short  and  sudden  tempests  of  wind  from  the 
land. 


APPENDIX.  67 

The  latter  part  of  May,  and  the  whole  of  June,  comprise  perhaps,  the  most 
rainy  period  in  the  year.  It  is  vastly  important  that  your  new  grounds  should 
be  cleared,  well  burnt,  planted  and  fenced,  before  these  rains  come  on.  It  is 
not  possible  to  do  either,  well,  afterwards.  The  natives  who  have  no  almanacs, 
and  who  are  accused  of  great  indolence,  are  never  behindhand  in  their  rice- 
plantations.  In  the  months  of  March  and  April,  their  plantation  fires  send  up 
columns  of  smoke  in  all  directions  ;  and  the  month  of  June  witnesses  a  most 
verdant  display  of  springing  rice  in  the  neighborhood  of  all  their  towns. 

July  and  August  are,  commonly,  almost  as  dry  as  the  same  months  in  Ameri- 
ca. The  weather  is  delightfully  cool ;  and  seems  to  have  been  appointed  for 
the  convenience  of  dressing  gardens  and  plantations.  You  have  now  an  op- 
portunity to  weed,  and  grub  up  the  sprouts  and  bushes  on  your  'crop  lands;  to 
make  fences,  and  set  out  fruit,  cotton,  and  coffee  trees.  After  having  perform- 
ed all  that  your  plantations  and  gardens  require,  you  may  find  a  few  weeks  of 
this  cool  and  pleasant  season,  to  provide  timber  and  materials  for  building  out- 
houses, or  enlarging  your  dwellings.  Should  birds  or  insects  have  destroyed 
any  part  of  the  young  crop  of  rice,  or  vegetables,  you  can  now  fill  it  in  with 
new  seed,  before  the  September  rains  come  on.  But  never  expect  a  crop  plant- 
ed in  July  and  August,  will  succeed  as  well  as  that  which  enjoys  the  benefit 
of  the  June  rains. 

On  the  last  of  August,  the  second,  and  much  the  longest  course  of  rains, 
usually  sets  in.  They  prevail  without  much  intermission,  throughout  Septem- 
ber and  October.  In  November,  the  thunder-gusts  return,  and  the  rains  grad- 
ually subside.  Your  rice  crop  is  now  fit  for  the  sickle  ;  and  you  must  stand  by 
every  fair  day  to  secure  it,  as  soon  as  possible.  The  corn-crop,  if  planted  sea- 
sonably, will  come  in,  early  in  September.  The  second  planting,  sometime  in 
November.  That  part  of  the  Indigo,  and  Coffee  crops,  which  comes  to  matu- 
rity in  these  months  must  be  carefully  gathered  as  it  ripens,  and  cured  under 
cover.  But,  after  all  these  labors,  many  days  of  this  dripping  season  will  re- 
main, and  they  can  be  best  employed  by  mechanics  at  their  trades,  and  by  all 
others  in  dressing  and  mortising  fence-posts,  and  making  gates,  refitting  their 
implements,  and  performing  all  the  rough  work  required  about  their  houses, 
and  plantations,  which  can  be  done  under  shelter.  Fruit,  cotton,  and  coffee-trees 
may  also  be  transplanted. 

The  month  of  November  puts  an  end  to  the  redundant  rains  of  the  year.  The 
season  for  clearing  lands,  now  begins.  No  industrious  man  will  neglect  com- 
mencing this  work  beyond  the  1st  day  of  December,  while  an  acre  remains  to 
be  cleared  on  his  plantation.— Occasional  showers  may  be  expected  'till  the 
first  week  in  January. 

January,  February,  and  March  are  the  driest— March  and  April,  the  hottest 
months  in  the  year.  These  are  the  months  in  which  one  day's  work  in  clear- 
ing and  burning  brush-wood,  killing  weeds  and  sprouts  on  your  plantations, 
grubbing  up  roots  and  stubs,  will  effect  more  than  a  whole  week  in  any  other 
season.  December  and  January,  are  the  months  for  cutting  down  the  timber, 


68  APPENDIX. 

vines,  and  brush-wood.  February  and  March,  lor  burning  and  clearing  youi 
plantations.  April  and  May,  for  fencing  and  planting  them. — You  can  have  no 
crop  without  thoroughly  burning  over  your  new  plantations,  and  you  never  can 
burn  well,  after  the  tornadoes  set  in,  towards  the  last  of  March. 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE  SOIL  OF  LIBERIA, 

Depends  for  its  quality  much  on  the  situation  of  the  lands.  The  upland  of 
the  Cape,  and  Coast,  has  two  varieties  of  soil.  The  first  is,  that  strong  and 
deep  mould  which  is  always  found,  where  the  hard,  brown  granite  rocks  are 
most  numerous.  This  soil  is  certainly  very  capable  of  being  turned  to  a  very 
profitable  account.  Observe  every  where  in  the  beds  of  those  rocks,  the 
thrifty  and  sturdy  growth  of  timber.  The  largest  trees  are  commonly  found 
in  such  situations.  This  is,  however,  a  wet-season  soil ;  and  must  not  be  ex- 
pected to  give  you  a  crop  in  the  dry  months.  I  shall  call  this,  The  Strong 
Upland  Soil. 

The  other  species  of  upland  soil,  is  of  a  much  inferior  quality.  It  consists  of 
a  reddish,  clayey  earth,  every  where  more  or  less  mixed  with  soft,  rust-colored 
rocks,  stones  and  gravel.  The  red  color  of  the  sc^l  and  rocks  is  caused  by  the 
rust  of  the  iron  particles  intermingled  with  it.  Manure  may,  in  time,  render 
it  productive.  But  the  best  mode  yet  discovered  to  fertilize  this  soil,  is  to 
burn  over  the  surface  in  clearing  the  land ;  and  to  spread  small  quantities  of 
ashes  or  lime  over  it,  after  the  first  crop.  I  shall  distinguish  this  as  The 
Weak  Upland  Sott. 

There  are  three  sorts  of  lowland  soil.  The  first  and  richest  is  that  formed 
on  the  sides  of  rivers,  and  from  the  wash  of  the  uplands.  It  is  always  wet 
during  the  rains,  consists  of  a  loose,  deep,  black  mould,  and  is  entirely  free 
from  rocks  and  gravel.  This  soil  will  produce  any  crop  which  you  choose  to 
plant;  but  is  especially  adapted  to  early  rice,  and  to  all  those  vegetables 
which  thrive  in  the  dry  season.  I  shall  call  this,  The  Rich  Lowland  Soil. 

The  second  variety  of  soil  in  the  bottom  land,  I  shall  name,  The  Stiff  Clayey 
Sott.  It  consists  of  a  lightish  colored  clay,  sometimes  a  little  tempered  with 
coarse  sand.  It  is  subject  to  the  extremes  of  wet  and  drought ;  but  produces 
good  crops,  and  can  be  much  improved  by  manuring. 

The  sandy  soil  is  the  third  variety  found  in  the  level  country.  It  is  most 
prevalent  wherever  the  land  has,  in  course  of  time,  gained  upon  the  ocean,  or 
channels  of  rivers.  It  is  a  light,  warm  soil ;  and  will  yield  only  slender  crops 
without  manure.  Sweet  potatoes,  beans,  cassada,  and  succulent  fruit  trees, 
will  succeed  best  in  it. 


APPENDIX.  (')!> 

CHAPTER    IV. 
METHOD  OF  CLEARING  LANDS. 

Before  you  can  have  plantations,  your  industry  must  conquer  them  from  an 
almost  impenetrable  forest.  In  this  laborious  business,  your  success  wholly  de- 
pends upon  your  going  properly  tc  work  in  the  right  season.  The  time  to 
clear  lands  is  from  December  to  March.  Enter  your  forest  in  December  and 
January,  provided  with  an  axe,  and  bill-hook.  The  axe  is  to  be  used  with  all 
the  large  trees  and  saplings ,  the  hook  to  clear  away  the  vines  and  brush-wood. 
Let  every  thing  be  cut  near  the  ground.  The  saplings  should.be  taken  off 
even  with  the  surface.  After  bringing  a  hanging  mass  of  vines  and  trees  to  the 
ground,  never  quit  it  till  you  have  trimmed  every  branch  from  the  trunks  of  the 
trees,  divided  them  into  proper  lengths,  cut  up  every  bush  and  twig  by  the 
ground,  and  piled  the  branches  and  brush-wood  into  two  or  three  snug  heaps 
for  burning.  This  is  the  only  neat  and  cleanly  style  of  cleaning  your  lands. 
Let  the  whole  lie  'till,  not  only  the  leaves,  but  the  very  wood  itself  is  per- 
fectly dried  and  combustible.  Fire  it  then,  on  the  windward  side,  at  one 
o'clock  in  the  day.  The  whole  surface  will  be  burnt  black  ;  and  eveiy  thing 
except  the  trunks  of  the  trees,  consumed.  Now  lay  these  together  in  snug 
piles,  saving  out  such  pieces  as  \vill  answer  for  timber  and  fencing,  and  burn 
them. 

The  advantages  of  this  method  are,  to  save  immense  labor — to  kill  at  once, 
all  the  shrubbery  and  small  roots — and  to  prepare  the  surface  of  your  lands,  in 
the  best  possible  way,  to  receive  a  crop.  A  plantation  managed  in  this  way, 
never  requires  plowing,  or  digging  for  the  first  crop. 

If  you  depart  from  these  directions,  either  in  the  time  of  clearing,  or  the 
manner  of  heaping  and  burning  your  brush,  you  may  depend  on  being  obliged 
to  fight  against  a  forest  of  sprouts  and  weeds,  all  the  year ;  and  not  get  half 
a  crop  in  harvest. 


CHAPTER    V. 
METHOD  OF  MAKING  AND  USING  MANURE. 

In  cropping  your  lands,  the  first  time,  the  seed  is  thrown  upon  the  surface 
of  the  ground,  and  covered  in.  For  the  second  crop,  the  soil  requires  plough- 
ing, or  digging  with  a  grubbing  hoe ;  and  all  the  soils  except  the  strong  up- 
lands and  the  rich  lowlands,  require  manure.  Every  particle  of  this  sub- 
stance should  accordingly  be  saved,  and  the  greatest  possible  quantity  pro- 
duced for  enriching  your  lands.  You  must  carefully  collect  all  the  impurities 
and  rubbish  about  your  plantations  and  town  lots,  into  a  heap,  at  a  proper 


70  APPENDIX. 

distance  Itoni  your  dwelling.  Old  mats,  straw,  bones,  ashes,  sweepings,  the 
\veedings  of  your  gardens,  every  rejected  thing,  in  short,  of  a  vegetable  and 
animal  nature,  should  be  collected  into  this  heap,  and  the  whole  left  to  ferment 
and  mellow,  till  fit  to  be  carried  out  and  bestowed  upon  your  plantations. 

Manure  should  be  given  to  your  lands  immediately  before  or  after  planting 
your  crop.  For  rice,  the  best  way  of  applying  it,  is  to  spread  it  equally  over 
the  surface.  For  cassada,  corn,  sweet-potatoes,  indigo,  canes,  arrow-root, 
ginger,  cotton  and  coffee,  the  proper  method  is  to  give  it  in  shovels-full  to  the 
hills,  or  to  lay  it  in  a  line  along  the  upper  side  of  the  row.  After  once  or 
twice  cropping  your  new  lands,  their  produce  may  be  doubled  by  the  use  of 
manure. 


CHAPTER    VI. 
FENCING. 

Next  after  sheltering  your  families  with  a  good  house,  you  ought  to  enclose 
your  lots  and  plantations  with  a  substantial  fence. 

Your  town  lot  ought  to  be  surrounded  by  a  picket  board  fence  at  least  six  feet 
high.  The  upright  pieces  ought  to  be  planed  and  pointed,  and  not  exceed  five 
inches  in  width.  A  stone  wall  ought,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  take  the  place 
of  this  fence. 

On  your  plantations,  you  have  the  choice  of  a  horizontal,  or  upright  board 
fence,  or  one  of  posts  and  rails.  The  latter  is  cheapes't  at  first,  but  must 
never  have  fewer  than  five  or  six  rails.  Less  will  turn  neither  goats  nor  bul- 
locks. For  want  of  the  last  rail,  you  will  often  lose  your  whole  crop.  Plan- 
tations ought  not  to  be  fenced  into  larger  fields  than  of  two  acres  ;  and  those 
of  smaller  size,  into  fields  of  a  single  acre,  in  order  to  admit  of  a  due  rotation 
and  change  of  crops,  together  with  tillage,  fruit  and  coffee  plantations  ;  into 
which,  every  man  should  distribute  his  lands. 


CHAPTER    VII. 
AFRICAN  PRODUCTIONS— KITCHEN  GARDEN. 

The  climate  of  Africa  is  adapted  to  a  much  greater  variety  of  productions 
than  those  of  America  and  Europe.  But  your  attention  must  be  given  to  the 
cultivation  of  such  alone  as  serve  directly  to  supply  your  wants,  promote  your 
comfort,  and  lead  to  independence  and  wealth.  Of  these,  RICE  and  CORK 
must  always  be  leading  articles.  Without  these  grains,  you  have  no  bread. 


APPENDIX.  71 

The  demand  for  them  will  always  be  great ;  and  the  produce  of  the  Colony 
can  never  exceed  the  demand.  Cassada  and  yams  are  doubtless  the  best  vege- 
table substitutes  for  the  grains.  They  may  be  made  the  source  of  comfort, 
and  in  time,  of  wealth,  from  the  abundance,  cheapness  and  usefulness  of  the 
crop.  Every  plantation  should  grow  sweet-potatoes  the  year  round.  Light 
soils  answer  well — but  manure  improves  them.  The  pumpkin  is  a  natural 
product  of  Liberia ;  and  should  never  be  forgotten.  The  flavor  is  superior  to 
that  of  the  American  pumpkin.  Twenty  plantain  and  banana  trees,  well 
manured,  will  afford  you  the  greatest  abundance  of  those  valuable  fruits. 
Your  residence  should  be  surrounded  with  them.  Oranges  attain  the  greatest 
perfection;  and  require  no  more  care  than  the  commonest  apple  tree  of  America. 
Limes  and  guavas  may  be  propagated  from  roots  or  offsets  ;  both  of  which  are 
to  be  procured  with  a  little  pains,  in  any  quantities.  The  thick  rind  or  lemon 
species  of  the  former,  ought  to  be  preferred.  A  walk  of  pin«-apple  plants 
ought  to  ornament  every  plantation.  Half  an  acre  of  cotton  trees  will  clothe 
yourself  and  family ;  and,  except  a  little  hoeing,  all  the  labor  of  rearing  and 
manufacturing  the  article  can  be  performed  by  your  wife  and  children.  The 
same  quantity  of  land  devoted  to  the  culture  of  the  sugar  cane,  will  render 
you  independent  of  all  the  world,  for  the  sugar  necessary  for  your  family. 
Coffee,  whether  considered  as  a  staple  of  trade,  or  a  valuable  article  of  do- 
mestic comfort,  demands  a  large  share  of  your  attention.  Two  acres  in  every 
five,  is  not  too  great  a  proportion  of  your  lands,  to  devote  to  the  crop.  The  trees 
produce  double  the  quantity  here,  that  they  do  in  the  West  Indies ;  and  the 
article  is  of  a  superior  quality.  No  man  should  be  in  Liberia  twelve  months, 
without,  at  least,  two  acres  set  with  coffee  plants.  They  afford  a  certain  in- 
come, at  small  expense.  Indigo,  when  successful,  is  a  still  more  profitable 
production.  It  will  admit  of  being  cropped  eight  times  in  the  year,  at  least. 
A  quarter  of  an  acre,  well  managed,  will  give  you  ten  pounds  at  a  cropping. — 
Lose  no  time.  Ginger,  aloes,  arrow-root,  and  pepper,  are  all  valuable  articles 
of  export,  and  will  abundantly  repay  your  pains  in  cultivating  them.  The  fol- 
lowing chapters  will  point  out  the  mode  of  their  culture. 

It  is  an  important  inquiry,  how  ought  town  lots  to  be  occupied? — I  can,  as  a 
general  direction,  tell  you,  that  every  town  lot  ought  to  contain  a  substantial 
dwelling  house,  placed  twenty-five  feet  in  rear  of  the  street ;  a  kitchen  in  the 
rear  of  the  house ;  a  store  house  and  granary  under  the  same  roof;  and  a 
kitchen  garden.  This  last  should  occupy  at  least  one-half  of  the  lot.  It 
should  be  manured  as  highly  as  industry  and  skill  can  reach ;  and  never  ex- 
hibit a  neglected  plant,  or  an  useless  weed.  The  hoe  should  pass  over  it  every 
week — cabbages,  onions,  charots,  radishes,  lettuce,  tomatoes,  cucumbers,  simb- 
lins,  and  every  sweet-scented  and  aromatic  herb  of  American  kitchen  gardens, 
will  flourish  if  planted,  and  produce  you  more  domestic  comforts  than  half  your 
income  would  buy  you  without  a  garden.  The  man  who  neglects  a  kitchen 
garden,  I  set  down  for  a  very  la/y,  or  a  miserably  improvident  fellow.  Re- 


72  APPENDIX. 

member,  a  garden  will  not  support  your  family  without  a  plantation  ;  neither 
will  a  plantation  render  them  comfortable  without  a  kitchen  garden. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE    CULTURE  OF  RICE. 

The  natives  of  the  coast  never  neglect  this  crop,  without  expecting  a  famine 
for  their  folly.  Trade,  pleasure,  their  natural  indolence — all  give  way,  on  the 
return  of  the  year,  to  the  necessity  of  preparing  a  rice  plantation. — Imitate 
them. 

Three  species  of  rice  are  cultivated  on  the  coast:  the  round  grained — the 
large  white  or  Carolina  rice;  and  the  red  African  rice.  They  all  succeed  well ; 
but  I  am  told  that  the  American  is  considered  the  best.  This  alone  suc- 
ceeds well  in  a  foreign  market. 

Rice  answers  in  all  soils  ;  but  the  best  soils  are  to  be  chosen,  and  the  mode 
of  culture  is  to  be  regulated  by  the  nature  of  the  lands. 

For  an  upland  crop,  clear  your  plantation  in  the  midst  of  the  dry  season  ; 
and  burn  and  prepare  it  for  planting  in  March  and  April,  as  directed  in  chap- 
ter IV.  After  the  tornado  rains  become  frequent,  and  the  surface  of  the  ground 
a  little  softened,  put  in  your  crop.  Sow  about  two  bushels  of  seed  to  the  acre, 
and  cover  it  with  a  hoe,  or  harrow  on  the  same  day.  It  is  now  necessary  to  see 
that  the  birds  do  not  filch  away  the  grain,  and  to  continue  to  watch  it  until  the 
blade  is  several  inches  out  of  the  ground.  Five  or  six  weeks  after  planting  a 
newly-cleared  field,  you  must  carefully  destroy  with  a  hook,  all  the  springing 
sprouts,  and  pull  the  weeds,  and  if  necessary,  this  operation  must  be  gone 
over  again  before  the  crop  ears. 

The  rice  will  be  fit  for  the  sickle  early  in  September,  and  it  ought  to  be  dried 
and  threshed  or  beaten,  as  early  as  convenient,  afterwards.  The  grain  is  easily 
preserved  in  the  chaff,  or  husk,  if  kept  dry,  and  it  can  be  hulled  and  cleared 
at  your  leisure. 

The  lowland  crop,  is  sown  in  September,  October,  or  November,  on  wet, 
marshy  lands,  which  have  been  prepared  during  the  rains.   These  lands  shoul 
be  so  situated  as  to  retain  a  large  share  of  moisture  :till  the  crop  is  fully  h 
grown,  and  the  weeds  and  sprouts  kept  down  in  the  upland  crop.     The  gra 
will  be  fit  for  the  harvest  in  March  and  April.   The  natives  prefer  the  Summt. 
[upland]  crop,  and  it  is  presumed  to  be  the  most  productive. 

But  the  upland  culture,  it  should  be  recollected,  answers  in  bottom  lands,  ex- 
cept the  most  marshy,  quite  as  well  as  in  upland  soils,  and  I  think  ought  to 
take  the  place  of  the  other  altogether. 

A  second  crop  cannot  follow  the  first,  on  new  lands,  without  plowing  up  the 
soil  to  a  good  depth.  The  same  directions  must  then  be  observed  which  have 
just  been  given  for  cropping  new  lands. 


APPENDIX. 

Lands  once  ploughed  will  not  produce  two  successive  crops,  without  fresh 
ploughing,  always,  and  manuring,  unless  the  soil  is  very  rich  and  marshy;  when 
manure  is  not  necessary. 

Rich  lowland  soils  under  the  best  culture,  produce  from  forty  to  fifty  bush- 
els to  the  acre ;  but  the  upland  crop  is  a  good  one  if  it  yields  you  thirty. 


CHAPTER    IX. 
CULTURE  OF  INDIAN  CORN  AND  CASSADA. 

The  culture  of  corn,  observing  the  proper  time  of  planting,  does  not  vary 
from  the  method  pursued  in  America.  As  the  crop  grows  during  the  rains, 
the  upland  soils  are  preferable  to  the  marshy. 

The  preparation  of  the  lands  should  be  the  same  as  for  rice,  and  the  best  sea- 
son for  planting,  is  in  all  the  month  of  May.  The  crop  ripens  early  in  Sep- 
tember. A  good  return  is  often  made  from  seed  planted  in  July,  which  ma- 
tures in  November  and  December.  But  the  June  rains,  it  should  never  be  for- 
gotten, are  of  more  service  to  all  African  crops  than  any  other,  and  ought 
never,  through  neglect  or  sloth,  to  be  lost. 

CASSADA  may  be  raised  from  the  seed,  or  propagated  from  the  root,  or  the 
stem.  The  latter  method  is  the  least  troublesome,  and  most  commonly  prac- 
tised. All  soils  will  answer  for  this  valuable  vegetable;  but  the  dry  and  sandy 
are  preferable  to  the  marshy,  even  when  the  latter  is  much  the  richest.  Cas- 
sada  ought  to  be  made  to  fill  up  all  those  lands  which  would  otherwise  remain 
vacant  and  neglected  on  account  of  their  poverty.  A  succession  of  crops  may  fol- 
low each  other  on  the  same  ground ;  the  decayed  stalks  and  leaves  of  the  for- 
mer crops,  serving  to  keep  the  land  in  heart.  It  may  be  planted  in  any  month 
of  the  year. 

After  preparing  the  ground,  line  it  four  feet  asunder,  and  form  on  the  lines, 
trenches  three  or  four  inches  deep.  Cut  the  stem  into  pieces  containing  each, 
two  joints,  and  drop  them  horizontally  into  the  trenches,  two  feet  apart.  Cover 
on  three  or  four  Miches.  Keep  the  weeds  down,  and  hoe  the  crop  once  in  two 
months.  In  six  months,  the  young  Cassada  will  be  fit  for  use,  at  half  growth. 
The  crop  can  be  dug  as  your  own  domestic  uses  require  ;  and  will  last  from 
15  to  18  months.  Pigs,  cattle,  and  goats,  may  be  fattened  on  this  root,  with 
very  little  trouble  and  expense;  and  Tapioca,  a  valuable  article  of  sale,  man- 
ufactured from  it  by  a  very  cheap  and  simple  process.  Its  produce  is  greater 
than  that  of  any  other  known  vegetable. 

K 


74  APPENDIX. 

CHAPTER   X. 

YAMS,  SWEET  POTATOES,  PL  ANT  A  INS,  BANANAS, 
AND  THE  ORANGE. 

The  Yam  grows  spontaneously  in  some  situations  on  the  coast,  and  can  be 
easily  cultivated  in  all.  The  root  improves  in  quality  under  proper  manage- 
ment} and  degenerates  by  neglect  to  a  bitter,  heavy  and  very  inferior  vegetable. 
It  is  propagated  from  the  root. 

Divide  the  upper  half  of  a  yam  of  good  size,  into  two  or  three  parts.  Plant 
these,  from  twelve  to  twenty  inches  asunder,  in  trenches  prepared  as  for  Cas- 
sada,  which  ought  to  have  four  feet  intervals  between  them.  This  crop  re- 
quires manure,  if  the  land  is  not  newly  cleared.  See  chapter  V. 

The  most  proper  time  for  planting,  is  at  the  commencement  of  the  rains,  in 
May.  But  the  vegetable  will  succeed  at  any  time,  except  two  or  three  months 
of  the  dry  season,  and  even  then,  if  the  land  is  moist.  Wet  soils  produce  yams 
of  an  inferior  quality. 

They  should  be  carefully  hoed,  at  least  three  times;  and  at  the  end  of  the 
first  month,  they  must  be  furnished  with  two  poles,  set  along  the  row,  at  the 
distance  of  two  and  a  half  feet,  for  the  vines  to  dispose  themselves  upon.  Two 
crops  may  be  made  in  the  year. 

SWEET  POTATOES  are  another  invaluable  vegetable,  which  maybe  cultiva- 
ted on  nearly  every  variety  of  soils,  and  at  any  season  of  the  year.  They 
may  be  reared  from  the  seeds,  the  root,  or  the  vines.  To  preserve  the 
species  from  degeneracy,  plant  the  roots,  and  even  the  seeds,  occasionally. 
But  the  crop  is  much  more  conveniently  and  speedily  reared  from  the  vines. 

Method. — In  the  month  of  May  or  June,  (of  preference,)  dig  y&ur  land  into 
loose  ridges  about  three  feet  asunder.  Manure  these  ridges  plentifully,  and 
mix  the  compost  well  with  the  earth.  Insert,  by  hand,  along  these  ridges,  and 
not  more  than  fifteen  inches  apart,  some  of  the  thriftiest  vines  taken  from  the 
preceding  crop.  Keep  the  weeds  from  springing,  by  repeated  hoeings;  at  the 
same  time  loosening  the  earth  about  the  roots  of  the  vine.  In  two  months,  the 
young  potatoe  will  make  its  appearance,  and  about  the  end  of  the  fourth,  will 
have  come  to  maturity. 

PUMPKINS,  are  reared  from  the  seed.  They  are  a  succulent  vegetable,  and 
will  scarcely  succeed  if  planted  in  the  dry  months.  But  vines  which  have  ob- 
tained a  thrifty  growth  during  the  rains,  will  flourish  and  bear  fruit  throughout 
the  season. 

Plant  every  variety.  Manure  the  hills  well,  and  a  single  vine  will  not  find 
room  in  a  square  pole  of  ground  to  expand  itself  in.  This  vegetable  acquires 
a  much  harder  and  thicker  rind  in  this  country,  than  it  has  in  America. 

PLANTAINS  AND  BANANAS  are  propagated  from  the  suckers  which  spring 


APPENDIX.  75 

out  of  the  root  of  the  parent  tree.  They  may  be  separated  from  the  old  stock 
and  transplanted  at  any  period,  but  most  successfully,  in  the  early  rainy  months. 

Let  the  earth  be  dug  into  a  loose  bed  for  the  roots  to  spread  in,  and  the 
ground  be  enriched  by  several  shovelsfull  of  manure,  during  the  year.  The 
plants  should  be  set  at  six  feet  distant,  and  commonly,  in  rows  parallel  to  your 
garden  fence,  and  not  more  than  three  feet  from  it.  The  first  crop  will  come, 
in  about  a  twelve  month.  Whenever  the  old  stock  begins  to  decline,  cut  it  off 
near  the  ground,  and  remove  it  along  with  the  fallen  leaves,  to  your  manure 
heap,  and  carefully  cherish  as  many  of  the  new  shoots  as  are  necessary  to  sup- 
ply the  place  of  the  old.  These  are  permanent  fruits,  which  ripen  and  renew 
themselves  throughout  the  year. 

THE  ORANGE  TREE  is  of  slower  growth;  but  one  of  the  most  verdant,  thrif- 
ty and  beautiful  trees  of  the  woody  species,  in  nature.  Everyman  sho'uld  keep 
a  well  tended  nursery  of  these  trees,  which  he  can  obtain  from  the  seed  in  six 
months.  Transplant  them  to  your  garden,  and  plantation,  when  three  feet 
high,  during  the  prevalence  of  the  rains.  The  trees,  in  an  orange  orchard,  or 
walk,  ought  to  be  set  eight  feet  apart,  and  at  the  end  of  four  or  five  years,  every 
second  tree  cut  away  or  transplanted.  Let  the  earth  about  the  roots  be  fre- 
quently stirred,  and  well  mellowed  with  manure.  The  two  first  years,  you 
may  continue  to  crop  the  ground  with  corn  or  vegetables,  as  before.  Liberia 
will  afford  ripe  oranges  every  month  in  the  year. 

The  orange  tree  is  also  propagated  by  scions  taken  from  the  branches  of  the 
full  grown  tree,  and  set  in  the  earth,  like  the  offsets  of  the  currant  tree  in 
America. 


CHAPTER    XI. 
THE  LIME  TREE 

Is  of  a  more  hardy  nature  than  the  orange ;  and  will  thrive  in  a  poorer  soil. 
It  is  managed  in  the  same  way. 

THE   PAPAW 

May  be  raised  from  the  seed  to  the  height  of  two  feet,  or  a  suitable  state 
for  transplanting,  in  six  weeks — set  them  eight  feet  asunder,  and  three  plants 
together  ;  manure  and  weed  the  ground.  In  six  months,  the  flower  will  ap- 
pear, and  distinguish  the  sex  of  the  tree.  Cut  up  all  the  males,  excepting  one 
to  every  ten  females  ;  and  reduce  the  females  to  one  tree  at  each  station.  In 
ten  months,  the  fruit  will  begin  to  ripen,  and  afford  you  a  weekly  supply  for  as 
many  years  as  the  tree  lives. 

THE  GUAVA 

May  be  managed  in  the  same  way  as  the  orange ;  and  will  commence  bear- 
ing the  third  year.  It  may  also  be  propagated  by  setting  the  scions. 


76 


APPENDIX. 


THE  PINE  APPLE 

Requires  a  rich,  moist  soil,  and  is  propagated  by  planting  the  bud  and  corn  of 
leaves  growing  at  the  head  of  the  ripe  fruit,  in  hills  two  feet  apart.  The 
suckers  cut  from  the  base  of  the  ripe  fruit,  answer  the  same  purpose;  and  so 
do  the  young  shoots  springing  from  the  root.  Insert  and  transplant  your 
suckers  in  the  rains.  Hoe  and  weed  the  plant  with  especial  care;  and  the 
crop  will  come  forward  with  the  return  of  the  season. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
THE  COTTON  CROP. 

It  is  believed  that  none  of  the  varieties  of  the  American  cotton  shrub 
answers  in  all  respects,  to  the  indigenous  African  tree.  The  cotton  of  this 
country  is,  on  all  hands,  allowed  to  be  of  a  good  quality ;  and  the  mode  of 
growing,  curing,  and  manufacturing  the  article  pursued  in  America,  may  be 
adopted  here,  making  due  allowance  for  the  much  greater  size  and  duration 
of  the  African  tree.  It  is  raised  from  the  seed,  and  ought  to  be  reared  to  the 
height  of  three  feet,  in  a  nursery,  and  transplanted  into  the  field  in  rows,  six 
feet  distant  from  each  other.  This  process  should  take  place  in  the  rainy 
season.  The  same  tree  bears  a  succession  of  crops  for  a  great  number  of 
years. 

The  trees  should  be  pruned  into  shape,  and  the  plantation  kept  clean  with 
a  hoe. 

The  driest  upland  situations  should  be  chosen  for  this  crop ;  and  weak  up- 
land soils  will  answer.  It  comes  to  maturity  early  in  the  dry  season  ;  and 
ought  to  be  gathered  as  soon  as  the  wool  appears  through  the  seams  of  the  pod. 
Dry  and  separate  the  wool  from  the  pod  and  base,  to  which  it  adheres.  Gin 
it,  and  afterwards  hand-pick  it  carefully,  to  separate  broken  seeds  and  damaged 
cotton  from  the  good. 

N.  B.  Cotton  growers  should  carefully  note  every  fact  attending  the  culture 
of  the  article,  till  the  most  profitable  culture  is  much  better  understood. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 
THE  SUGAR-CANE 

Is  of  biennial  growth.  Its  culture  in  the  Colony,  dtight  at  preseftt,  to  fo 
limited  to  your  own  domestic  supplies.  To  make  sugar  for  exportation  wtfulc? 
require  more  capital  and  more  skill  than  any  of  you  at  present,  possess  Ftnf 


APPENDIX.  77 

a  family  of  seven  persons,  half  an  acre  of  caries  will  furnish  an  ample  supply 
of  sugar  and  vinegar. — To  cultivate  them, 

Mellow  the  land  to  a  good  depth  with  the  plough  or  pick.  Trench  it  in  lines 
four  feet  apart — cover  in  four  inches  of  earth  on  the  stems  of  the  cane,  cut 
into  pieces  containing  two  or  three  joints.  Manure  on  the  upper  side  of  these 
trenches— hoe  it  repeatedly.  In  fifteen  months,  the  crop  matures — cut  it  with 
a  sickle  at  the  ground — top  and  leaf  the  stalks,  and  send  them  in  bundles  to 
the  mill.  The  juice  must  be  boiled  on  the  same  day  in  which  it  is  expressed, 
or  your  sugar  will  not  grain.  Copper  boilers  are  preferable  to  iron.  The 
skimmings  are  to  be  reserved  for  vinegar. 

To  make  good  sugar,  requires  great  skill,  which  can  be  acquired  only  by  ex- 
perience. You  would  often  fail  in  attempting  it.  Syrup,  or  cane  juice,  boiled 
to  a  consistence  of  thin  molasses,  and  carefully  refined,  will  answer  every  pur- 
pose of  refined  sugar,  and  is  better  suited  to  the  dampness  and  heat  of  this 
climate. 

The  rich  lowland  soil  will  produce  the  best  canes.  The  season  for  planting 
is  the  three  last  rainy  months. 

Having  cropped  your  cane  field,  either  plough  or  dig  the  ground  between  the 
old  rows,,  adding  a  new  supply  of  manure.  The  old  stocks  will  send  up  an 
abundance  of  suckers,  which  are  to  be  thinned  out,  and  managed  precisely  as 
the  planted  crop.  This  operation  may  be  several  times  repeated ;  and  it  is 
considered  a  better  method  of  renewing  the  plants  than  by  planting  the  stems. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
COFFEE. 

Every  proprietor  of  lands,  should  keep  a  flourishing  nursery  of  young  coffee 
plants.  No  country  will  bring  the  product  to  higher  perfection  than  Africa1, 
Whether  it  is  a  native  of  the  country,  or  was  introduced  at  an  early  period,  by 
the  Portuguese  and  Spaniards,  cannot  now  be  certainly  known.  It  is  enough 
for  you  to  know,  that  it  has  propagated  itself  on  your  hills,  and  along  a  great 
extent  of  the  African  coast,  without  culture,  for  many  ages.  South  of  your 
river,  it  grows  every  where :  and  the  tree  and  berry  attain  a  size  unknown 
elsewhere. 

Transplant  the  young  trees  at  an  early  period  of  the  rains.  Few  dry  soils 
are  unfavorable  to  their  growth.  And  they  are  found  in  a  state  of  nature  in 
many  situations  where  moisture  predominates  a  great  part  of  the  year.  The 
dry  upland  gives  the  small  grained  and  fine  flavored  kernel ;  rich  lowland  for 
the  greatest  crop. 

Line  your  plantation  into  squares  of  six  feet ;  and  mellow  the  beds  which 
are  to  receive  the  plants.  Let  the  young  tree,  at  the  time  of  transplanting  it, 


78  APPENDIX. 

be  two  feet  high  ;  crop  it  ten  inches  from  the  ground  ;  and  save  only  the  most 
thrifty  young  shoot  which  springs  from  the  root. 

For  the  first  two  years  after  setting  your  plantation,  cultivate  en  it  corn  or 

some  vegetable  which  requires  the  frequent  use  of  the  hoe.     Superfluous 

branches  must  be  carefully  pruned  off;  and  only  about  thirty  or  forty  left  to 

the  tree.     These  will  begin  to  bear,  the  third  year.  The  tree  should  be  topped 

'  -:it  a  convenient  height  and  prevented  from  shooting  higher  ever  afterwards. 

The  berries  when  ripe,  have  a  darkish  red  appearance  ;  and  should  be  then 
gathered  and  cured.  It  is  customary  to  gather  the  crop  at  three  different 
periods,  and  stages  of  ripeness. 

To  CURE  THE  COFFEE,  pass  it  through  a  simple  hand  mill,  immediately 
after  gathering  it,  in  order  to  grind  off  the  pulp,  or  outside  envelope.  When 
quite  dry,  either  beat  the  kernel  in  a  large  mortar,  or  pass  it  through  a  hulling 
mill,  of  a  construction  different  from  the  first,  in  order  to  separate  from  the 
kernel  the  parchment  hull,  in  which  it  is  closely  wrapped.  This  process  may 
also  be  performed  by  the  pestle.  The  chaff  may  then  be  carried  off  by  a  com- 
mon fan.  The  flavor,  of  the  coffee  improves  by  keeping. 

To  REMOVE  THE  TREES  in  your  plantation,  (which  must  be  done  once  in 
ten  years,)  cut  away  every  alternate  tree  by  the  ground ;  and  raise  one  of  the 
suckers  from  the  old  stock  or  root. 

No  crop  is  surer;  and  African  coffee  frequently  produces  four  pounds  to  the 
tree  in  a  season. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

INDIGO. 

This  crop  affords  a  very  quick  return;  and  when  successful,  is  the  most  profi* 
table  one  that  can  be  produced  by  the  same  labor  in  tropical  climates. 

It  is  annually  raised  from  the  seed — One  peck  of  seed  serves  for  more  than 
an  acre. 

Prepare  the  land  as  for  corn  or  potatoes.  Trench  it  slightly  in  lines  two  feet 
asunder.  Scatter  the  seed  in  the  trenches,  and  cover  on  the  earth.  Use  the  hoe 
freely,  while  the  crop  continues. 

The  seed  should  be  planted  in  April,  and  the  crop  will  be  fit  for  the  first  cut' 
ting  in  August.  Six  or  eight  successive  cuttings  may  be  had  of  the  same  crop, 
at  intervals  of  six  or  seven  weeks  between.  The  ground  should  be  changed, 
and  a  new  crop  sown  every  year. 

To  MANUFACTURE  THE  INDIGO. — Cut  the  plant  three  inches  above  the 
ground.  Place  it  in  layers  in  a  steeping  vat,  and  cover  it  over  with  water.  Let 
the  mass  ferment  'till  the  liquor  becomes  nearly  transparent.  Then  draw  it  into 
the  battery,  or  churn -vat.  Churn  it  'till  the  Indigo  begins  to  appear  on  the 


APPENDIX.  79 

surface.  Add  liine-water.  Let  the  Indigo  subside.  Draw  off' the  water ;  and 
hangup  the  Indigo,  in  small  canvass  bags,  to  drain  and  dry.  It  is  then  shifted 
into  small  boxes,  to  harden  and  mature  for  use. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

GINGER 

Is  as  easily  cultivated  as  the  potatoe.  The  richer  the  soil  the  more  abun- 
dant the  produce. 

Plant  it  eighteen  inches  distant,  immediately  after  the  rains  set  in.  Hoe  and 
nurse  it  as  the  potatoe,  and  when  the  tops  begin  to  turn,  as  they  will,  in  the 
following  dry  season,  gather  and  wash  it. 

To  cure  it. — Gradually  immerse  the  root  in  hot  water,  and  dry  it  by  a  fire,  or 
in  the  sun,  and  you  have  the  Black  Ginger. 

The  Yellow,  is  obtained  by  scraping  off  the  outside  of  the  root;  and  expos- 
ing it  with  frequent  turning,  to  the  hot  sun,  'till  thoroughly  dry. 

ARROW  ROOT 

Is  cultivated  as  the  ginger:  and  like  Tapioca,  is  prepared  by  rasping,  or  grind- 
ing the  root  fine,  and  then  steeping  the  pulp  ;  as  is  practised  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  Starch. 

BIRD  PEPPER 

Should  be  planted  in  May,  June  or  July,  in  continuous  rows,  two  feet  from 
each  other— the  ground  manured  highly,  and  the  crop  often  hoed.  The  pepper 
gradually  ripens  towards  Christmas,  and  is  a  valuable  article,  both  for  exporta- 
tion, and  domestic  use. 

ALOES 

Are  indigenous  in  Liberia,  and  possess  valuable  medicinal  qualities.  They 
are  propagated  from  suckers,  in  the  same  way  as  the  Pine-Apple  ;  and  the 
same  mode  of  culture  is  applicable. 

To  prepare  the  article  for  market,  pull  up  the  plant  with  the  roots.  Wash  it. 
Cut  the  whole  into  small  pieces,  and  inclose  them  in  hampers.  These  are  to 
be  thrown  into  an  iron  cauldron,  and  boiled  'till  the  liquor  becomes  highly 
colored,  and  even  black.  Strain  it  into  a  vat,  or  cask  having  a  cock  three  inches 
from  the  bottom.  Let  the  sediment  subside  below  the  cock.  Draw  off  the 
liquor  in  six  or  eight  hours ;  and  boil  it  down  to  the  consistence  of  honey.  If 
burnt  in  this  process,  the  whole  is  lost.  Put  it  into  gourds,  or  earthen  pots,  for 
sale.  It  hardens  by  age. 


80  APPENDIX. 

No.  8. 

We  have  inserted,  under  number  three,  two  letters  from  Mr, 
Ashmun,  on  the  character  of  the  native  Africans,  and  the  impor- 
tance of  introducing  Christianity  among  them.  His  able  letter 
subsequently  addressed  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Blumhardt,  on  the  same 
subject,  is  too  important  to  be  omitted. 

MONROVIA,  APRIL  23,  1826. 
To  Vie  Rev.  Dr.  Blumhardt,  Principal  of  the 

Missionary  College  at  Basle,  Switzerland: 

REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR:  Your  much  valued  favor  of  the  18th  of  October, 
1825,  arrived  in  Africa,  by  way  of  the  United  States,  nearly  two  months  ago ; 
but  a  very  unusual  press  of  other  duties  has  hitherto  deprived  me  of  the  power 
of  answering  it  satisfactorily,  and  must  render,  I  fear,  the  present  reply  much 
less  perfect  and  detailed  than  the  importance  of  your  communication  author- 
izes you  to  expect. 

While  1  tender  you  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  information  your  letter  affords 
of  the  object,  origin,  and  operations  of  the  two  allied  Institutions  in  which 
your  owrn  labors,  have  borne  so  distinguished  apart,  you  will  do  me  and  many 
thousands  of  my  countrymen  only  an  act  of  justice  by  assuring  yourself,  that 
both  had  already  shared  deeply  in  our  sympathies,  our  hopes,  and  our  prayers. 
Our  civil  institutions  and  ancestral  relations,  perhaps,  direct  our  natural  affec- 
tions towards  a  different  district  of  Europe ;  but  as  heirs  of  the  pure  faith 
and  blessed  hopes  of  the  Gospel,  American  Christians  have  still  stronger  sym- 
pathies to  bestow  on  the  land  of  Luther  and  the  glorious  company  of  his  asso- 
ciate reformers.  The  rekindlings  of  the  holy  light  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
in  Geneva,  Basle,  Frankfort,  Dresden,  and  many  other  places  in  Switzerland, 
Germany,  Holland,  and  Prussia,  are  reflected  to  the  Western  World,  where  it 
mingles  with  a  kindred  radiance,  proceeding,  we  trust,  with  increasing  bright- 
ness from  the  American  churches.  Gladly,  I  am  persuaded,  would  those 
churches,  or  the  individuals  who  compose  them,  rennite  their  labors  with 
those  of  their  brethren  of  Continental  Europe,  as  they  have  their  affections, 
in  the  cultivation  of  the  common  African  field,  hitherto  too  much  neglected 
by  both.  A  copy  of  your  letter  to  the  Board  of  Direction  of  this  Colony,  has 
been  put  into  my  hands  ;  from  whom,  I  doubt  not,  you  will  receive  assurances 
of  their  most  cordial  co-operation  so  far  as  the  paramount  and  single  object  of 
their  labors,  "  the  Colonization  of  American  Blacks  in  Africa,"  to  which  they 
stand  pledged  to  the  world  to  appropriate  their  funds,  shall  authorize  them  to 
act.  The  answer  which  you  may  expect  to  that  communication  will,  I  trust, 
prove  sufficiently  full  and  explicit  to  satisfy  your  inquiries  on  all  the  points 
stated  in  your  letters,  except  those  of  local  information;  and  on  these  inquiries 


APPENDIX.  81 

1  shall  now  endeavor  to  afford  you  all  the  information  [which  a  residence 
of  nearly  four  years  in  Africa,  and  a  very  large  intercourse  with  the  natives 
of  the  country,  have  enabled  me  to  communicate. 

Before  proceeding  to  take  up  the  questions  of  your  letter,  in  their  order,  you 
will  permitme  to  premise,  that  the  district  of  Western  Africamore  immediately 
within  the  actual  or  prospective  sphere  of  this  Colony's  influence  commences 
towards  the  north  from  the  river  Gallinas,  (Spanish  Gallinas,)  100  English  miles 
to  the  northwestward  of  Cape  Montserado,  and  terminates,  towards  the  south- 
east, at  Settra  Kroo,  (the  country  of  the  Kroomen,)  180  miles  distant  from  the 
Cape  ;  thus  comprehending  a  line  of  280  English  miles  of  seacoast,  but  reach- 
ing less  than  one-sixth  part  of  the  same  distance  towards  the  interior.  We 
have  very  little  connection  with,  or  even  knowledge  of,  any  of  -the  nations 
comprehended  in  this  extent  of  country,  excepting  the  tribes  of  the  seacoast. 
The  Fey  or  Vey  tribe  occupies  the  line  of  coast  between  the  Gallinas  river 
and  Grand  Cape  Mount,  comprehending  a  district  of  fifty  miles,  and  may  have 
extended  their  settlements  twenty-five  to  thirty  miles  inland.  The  character 
of  these  people  is  active,  warlike,  proud,  and,  with  that  of  all  their  neigh- 
bors, deceitfuh  The  slave  traffic  has  furnished  them  with  their  principal  em- 
ployment, and  proved  the  chief  source  of  their  wealth,  to  the  present  year, 
when  it  is  believed  to  have  been  broken  up  entirely  and  forever.  Their  inter- 
course with  the  whites  has  been  very  great ;  and  few  of  the  men  are  unable 
to  speak  indifferent  English.  Three-fourths  of  the  population  are  domestic 
slaves,  now  engaged  in  a  civil  strife  with  their  masters  for  an  extension  of 
their  privileges.  The  whole  population  of  this  tribe,  I  state  at  twelve  to 
fifteen  thousand. 

Occupying  the  coast  between  Cape  Mount  and  Montserado,  fifty  miles  in 
extent,  is  the  Dey  tribe  ;  reaching  only  half  the  distance  of  the  Veys  inland, 
and  containing  about  half  their  population.  They  are  indolent,  pacific,  and 
inoffensive  in  their  character:  but  equally  treacherous,  profligate,  and  cruel, 
when  their  passions  are  stirred,  with  the  Veys.  The  different  subdivisions  of 
the  Bassa  tribe  are  disposed  along  the  remaining  line  of  coast  towards  the 
southeast,  over  which  the  influence  of  the  Colony  is  beginning  to  be  felt.  No 
writer  on  Africa,  within  my  knowledge,  has  comprehended  the  inhabitants  of 
this  last  division  of  the  coast  under  the  general  designation  of  the  Bassas. 
But  the  propriety  of  the  designation  is  seen  in  the  facts,  that  the  language  of 
all  is  radically  one  and  the  same,  and  that  their  manners,  pursuits,  characters, 
and  the  productions  of  their  country,  present  a  striking  uniformity.  These 
countries,  taken  in  their  order  and  reckoned  by  their  distinct  governments,  are 
from  Cape  Montserado  15  miles,  Mamba — thence  20  miles,  Junk — thence  15 
miles,  Little  Bassa — thence  20  miles,  Grand  Bassa — thence  12  miles,  Young 
Sesters— thence  15  miles,  Trade  Town— thence  12  miles,  Little  Oolo— thence 
13  miles,  Grand  Colo  ;  after  which  occurs  Teembo  (Sp.  Timbo),  Mana,  Rock 
Sesters,  Sinou,  Little  Botton,  Grand  Botton,  Sftlra  Kroo  and  Kroo  Settra.  This 
maritime  country  may  reach  on  an  average  twenty  miles  inland.  It  is  de- 

L 


0x5  APPENDIX. 

cidedly  the  most  populous  of  any  seaboard  district  of  equal  extent  in  Western 
Africa.  In  rice,  oil,  cattle,  and  the  productions  of  the  soil,  it  rivals,  I  will 
not  say  any  part  of  the  African  coast,  but  any  part  of  the  savage  world.  An 
immense  surplus  of  these  articles,  after  abundantly  supplying  the  wants  of 
the  inhabitants,  is  every  year  transported  to  other  countries.  The  people  are 
domestic  and  industrious,  many  of  them  even  laborious  in  their  habits.  Their 
number  may  be  estimated  at  125,000.  Their  stationary  and  even  manner  of 
life,  the  infrequency  of  wars  among  them,  and  their  own  importunity  to  be 
furnished  with  the  means  of  improvement,  seem  to  declare  their  readiness  to 
receive  among  them  the  instruments  of  civilization,  and  the  heralds  of  divine 
revelation. 

I  have  already  said  that  we  yet  know  but  little  of  the  natives  of  our  interior. 
The  vague  accounts  received  from  ignorant  slaves,  and  by  a  few  other  chan- 
nels of  information,  agree  that  they  are  much  more  extensive  and  powerful,  and 
less  broken  into  tribes,  than  those  of  the  coast.  All  the  people  of  the  seaboard 
have  a  character  made  up,  as  their  language  is,  of  parts  borrowed  from  their  in- 
tercourse with  Europeans.  But  both  the  one  and  the  other,  remote  from  the 
seaboard,  are  of  necessity,  unmixed  and  peculiar.  Very  recent  accounts  re- 
ceived from  an  expedition  of  Englishmen  into  these  very  regions,  represent 
the  populousness  and  even  civilization  of  these  countries  in  a  very  imposing 
light ;  accounts  not  without  their  corroborating  proofs  in  many  circumstances, 
well  known  upon  the  coast. 

Between  the  settlements  of  the  coast  and  those  in  the  interior,  it  ought  to 
be  stated,  is  in  most  places,  a  forest  of  from  half  a  day,  to  two  days'  journey, 
left  by  both  as  a  barrier  of  separation,  and  which  is  seldom  passed  except  by 
erratic  traders,  who  are  in  many  parts  of  this  country  very  numerous. 

The  Dey  and  Vey  languages  have  an  evident  affinity  between  themselves, 
but  I  have  not  been  able  to  trace  it  to  any  other  dialect  of  Africa.  It  is  very 
imperfect  in  its  structure,  wants  precision,  has  no  numerals  above  100,  and 
abounds  in  sounds  absolutely  inarticulate.  I  think  it  not  worth  the  labor  of 
reducing  it  to  a  grammatical  or  graphical  form,  as  the  English  can  be  used  for 
all  the  purposes  of  education,  with  equal  facility,  and  incalculably  greater  ad- 
vantages, and  as  otherwise  several  thousand  new  terms  must  be  introduced, 
before  the  language  of  the  country  can  be  made  the  medium  of  exact  theo- 
logical and  philosophical  instruction.  The  Bassa  dialects  may  be  readily  re- 
duced to  one  and  the  same  written  language.  But  no  attempt  of  the  kind  has 
yet  been  made.  It  is  more  copious  and  artificial  than  the  former,  but  an 
European  of  education  can  scarcely  credit  the  fact,  that  a  jargon  so  rude  in 
its  structure  and  pronunciation,  should  exist  as  the  medium  of  communication 
among  rational  beings.  The  people  of  these  countries  universally  inhabit 
villages  of  from  forty  to  one  and  two  thousand  souls.  Every  town  or  village 
has  its  head,  and  several  subordinate  chiefs,  and  exhibits  the  harmony,  and  much 
of  the  economy  of  one  great  family.  The  chiefs  have  over  the  people 
of  their  respective  towns,  unlimited  authority,  which  is  seldom  resisted  on  the 


APPENDIX.  83 

part  of  their  subjects,  or  abused  by  themselves.  Polygamy  and  domestic 
slavery  are  universal.  The  women  and  female  children  are  to  the  males  in 
most  of  their  towns  as  three  to  two  ;  the  inequality  being  sustained  by  fre- 
quent purchases  of  female  slaves  from  the  interior.  The  men  perform  no  ser- 
vile labor,  (a  few  of  the  newly  acquired  domestic  slaves  excepted,)  and  pass 
their  entire  year  in  indolence,  except  the  months  of  February,  March  and 
April,  when  all  are  industriously  occupied  in  preparing  their  rice  and  cassada 
plantations.  The  women  are  incessantly  busy  either  in  the  plantations  or  in 
domestic  duties. 

The  people  have  no  taste,  and  very  little  capacity  for  abstract  thinking.  Ex- 
cept their  games  of  hazard,  they  have  nothing  in  the  shape  of  science  among 
them.  In  their  habits  they  are  temperate  and  abstemious,  and  capable  of  in- 
credible fatigue,  when  impelled  to  it  by  war,  or  stimulated  by  the  hope  of  re- 
ward. 

Such,  Sir,  is  a  general  description  of  the  materials  to  be  operated  upon  by 
missionary  establishments  in  this  part  of  Africa.  It  may  serve  in  part  to 
answer  or  prepare  the  way  to  a  more  intelligible  answer,  than  could  be  given 
well  without  it,  to  your  inquiries.  The  first  demands  "  by  what  kind  of  Mis- 
sionaries the  first  attempt  should  be  made  ?  By  such  as  more  exclusively 
fitted  for  teaching,  or  by  such  as  have  also  a  competent  knowledge  of  mechani- 
cal, trades  or  agriculture  ;  or  whether  trades  or  agriculture  could  be  most  ad- 
vantageously introduced,  or  both  continued  from  the  very  beginning?" 

These  people  have  their  own  little  trades,  arts  and  implements,  and  a  sys- 
tem of  agriculture  which  produces  them,  in  sufficient  plenty,  the  necessaries 
of  animal  life.  An  air  of  comfort  pervades  most  of  their  towns  and  dwell- 
ings. Even  an  European  Missionary,  if  accustomed  to  self-denial,  might  soon 
come  to  content  himself  in  an  African  dwelling  and  the  use  of  African  food, 
taken  nearly  as  he  finds  them.  Their  miseries  are  of  a  moral  nature.  The 
eyes  of  their  understandings  are  put  out :  they  even  want  to  be  told  that  they 
are  superior  in  their  nature  and  destiny  to  the  brutes  that  perish.  They  need 
to  be  taught  the  first,  and,  thence  in  order,  the  higher  principles  of  religious 
truth.  It  must  be  line  upon  line,  precept  upon  precept,  &c.,  and  by  a  labor 
of  years  perhaps,  before  effectual  impressions  can  be  made  upon  minds  unac- 
customed to  receive  and  nearly  incapable  of  comprehending  the  plainest  in- 
structions. Your  teachers  must  first  teach  them  to  think,  to  reflect,  to  inquire, 
before  they  can  hope  to  see  their  doctrine  take  root  in  their  hearts  or  even  in 
their  memories.  I  see  no  necessity  to  defer  for  a  single  month  the  work  of 
teaching— the  more  advanced,  in  their  own  towns  and  dwellings;  the  children, 
in  schools  and  missionary  families,  or  villages  formed  for  the  purpose.  This  I 
conceive  to  be  the  great  work  for  which  they  ought  especially  to  be  fitted, 
and  on  which  they  ought  chiefly  to  depend  for  all  the  success  they  expect. 
Trades  and  agriculture  will,  and  ought  to  come  along  of^course:  but  if  cul- 
tivated too  much  in  the  beginning,  will  be  apt  to  preoccupy  the  attention  of 
the  people,  and  entirely  preclude  the  effect  of  what  religious  instruction  may 


84  APPENDIX. 

be  given.  Owing  to  the  very  state  and  circumstances  of  the  country,  some- 
thing like  the  actual  modes  of  agriculture  must  be  practised  for  many  years 
by  a  settlement  of  European  Missionaries. 

I  do  not  think  that  a  missionary  establishment  in  Africa,  either  requires  or 
ought  to  comprehend  any  agriculturists  or  mechanics  who  are  not  also  well 
qualified  teachers.  It  seems  unnecessary.  Those  arts  will  advance  as  fast  as 
Christianity  advances  among  the  people;  and  is  any  missionary  purpose 
answered  by  substituting  them  in  its  place  ?  From  the  Colony  and  our  Factories 
both  will  be  acquired.  Both  are  beginning  to  be  introduced  among  them  ;  but, 
alas  !  the  Colony  cannot,  as  such,  do  the  peculiar  work  of  missionary  laborers 
and  instructers.  Let  the  Missionaries  be  accomplished  teachers,  and  let  them 
come  furnished  with  tools  and  a  few  agricultural  implements,  suck  as  may  be 
used  in  this  country;  and  know  something  of  the  use  of  both,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  build  their  own  houses,  make  their  own  plain  furniture,  and  cultivate  their 
own  plantations  and  gardens  :  and  I  am  decidedly  of  opinion  that  they  have 
every  requisite  qualification  for  success  in  their  appropriate  work. 

Question  2d. 

"  Are  there  any,  and  what  preparatory  labor  accomplished,  for  facilitating 
the  teaching  Department?" 

Absolutely  none,  if  we  except  the  circumstance  already  stated,  that  very 
many  in  all  the  maritime  tribes,  speak  a  corruption  of  the  English  language  ; 
and  have  incorporated  into  their  own  language  many  English  and  Portuguese 
terms,  which  they  apply  to  objects  of  European  manufacture  and  origin. 
There  has  never  yet  been  collected  even  a  vocabulary  of  the  Vey  or  Bassa 
language :  consequently,  no  attempt  to  reduce  either  to  rules,  can  have  been 
made.  One  fact  may,  however,  be  mentioned,  as  having  some  relation  to  this 
inquiry.  There  are  now  in  a  course  of  education  in  the  Colony,  about  fifty 
boys,  belonging  to  the  different  tribes  of  the  neighborhood.  These  boys  will 
all  be  taught  to  speak,  read  and  write,  the  English  language  readily,  and  are 
receiving  instruction  in  Religion.  One  object  ever  kept  in  view  in  their  tuition, 
is  the  fitting  them  to  act  as  interpreters  to  American  and  European  Mission- 
aries, and  should  the  Divine  Spirit  renew  their  hearts,  to  become  able  religious 
teachers  themselves.  Of  those  youths,  your  Missionaries  might  serve  them- 
selves materially,  in  any  labors  relating  to  the  acquisition  or  systematizing  the 
languages  of  the  country,  and  they  shall  be  at  their  service.  The  Bassa  lan- 
guage is,  in  my  opinion,  well  deserving  of  this  labor.  I  should  propose  to 
have  its  orthography  provided  for,  by  means  of  a  new  alphabet,  in  which  the 
letters  should  have  generally  the  powers  they  possess  in  the  Italian  alphabet, 
and  no  letter  in  any  possible  combination,  more  than  one  sound.  A  few  Mis- 
sionaries of  respectable  philological  acquirements  and  talents,  ought  accor- 
dingly to  be  sent  to  accomplish  this  work.  The  printing  press  of  the  Colony 
shall  be,  as  far  as  we  can  give  it  up,  at  their  command,  in  the  preparation  of 


APPENDIX.  85 

small  elementary  books  and  tracts.  A  printer,*  with  a  small  stock  of  materi- 
als, might  then  be  advantageously  sent  out  from  the  commencement  of  the 
establishment. 

Question  3d. 

"In  what  way  might  a  friendly  intercourse,  between  the  Missionary  settle- 
ment and  the  Colony  of  Liberia,  be  kept  up,  and  the  protection  of  the  latter 
be  secured  to  the  former?"  1st.  The  Government  of  the  Colony,  is  willing  to 
stipulate  with  the  authorities  of  the  country,  for  a  grant  of  land  sufficient  for 
the  actual  use  of  the  missionary  settlement  or  settlements,  and  hold  them  re- 
sponsible for  their  safety.  This  measure  may  not  in  all  cases  secure  the  Mis- 
sionaries from  the  treachery  and  occasional  violence  of  the  natives;  but,  in 
my  opinion,  it  will  go  a  long  way  towards  assuring  their  safety.  2d.  As  the 
Colony  has  factories  at  different  stations  along  the  coast,  and  in  the  interior, 
the  missionary  settlements,  by  being  situated  near  them,  may  share  the  pro- 
tection,  which  we  are  obliged  to  afford  to  these  factories.  3d.  An  arrange- 
ment can  be  effected,  by  which  the  Missionaries  shall  enjoy  the  advantage  of 
medical  attendance  and  prescriptions  at  the  Colony.  Supplies  of  the  Ameri- 
can and  European  fabrics,  groceries,  &c.,  can  be  at  any  time  had  through  the 
Colony.  Drafts  may  here  be  negotiated,  orders  and  letters  forwarded  hence 
to  any  part  of  the  world — tools,  and  so  forth,  here  fabricated  for  their  use 
and  comfort — and  what  a  Missionary  ought  to  prize,  they  will  enjoy  the 
friendship,  sympathies,  prayers  and  support,  of  a  large  and  intelligent  body  of 
Christian  Colonists  ;  indeed,  this  indirect  aid  and  support  to  be  expected  from 
the  American  settlement,  will,  in  my  opinion,  prove  incalculably  more  valua- 
ble, than  any  which  the  government  of  the  Colony  will  be  able  to  be- 
stow :  and  this  latter  you  will  clearly  perceive,  must  depend  greatly  on  the 
private  views,  and  sentiments  relative  to  missionary  objects,  which  the  indi- 
viduals in  the  administration  of  the  government  of  the  Colony  may  happen  to 
entertain.  A  large  proportion  of  our  settlers,  are  by  profession,  the  devoted1 
servants  of  the  Redeemer.  We  have  no  fewer  than  four  religious  commu- 
nions, and  a  deep,  lively,  and  I  hope,  sincere  and  lasting  interest  is  felt  by 
many,  for  the  salvation  of  their  pagan  African  brethren.  The  arrival  of  your 
Missionaries  would  be  hailed  with  joy ;  and,  so  far  as  they  ought  to  lean  on  an 
arm  of  flesh,  I  think  they  may  confide  in  the  cordial  support  of  the  numerous 
friends  of  God  in  this  Colony. 

Question  4th. 

"  What  communication  is  there  between  Cape  Mc/htserado,  and  America, 
and  Europe  ?" 

*  A  Missionary  having  some  knowledge  of  printing* 


86  APPENDIX. 

Once  in  three  or  four  months,  we  shall  have  regular  packets,  from  the  mid- 
dle stales  of  North  America,  besides  the  visits  of  about  twelve  trading  ships 
from  the  United  States,  which  touch  at  Montserado,  either  out  or  home. 

A  few  Dutch  Traders,  bound  to  the  Gold  Coast  every  year,  touch  at  Monro- 
via, as  do  a  large  number  of  English  and  French  ;  but  at  present,  the  Colony 
has  no  mercantile  correspondence  with  any  part  of  Europe,  except  England. 

Messrs.  King  and  Sons,  Merchants,  Bristol,  (England,) — a  very  respectable 
house,  having  three  vessels  in  the  African  trade,  some  of  which  are  monthly 
at  Montserado,  might  afford  you  any  facilities  for  direct  communication  with 
the  Colony,  by  the  way  of  England,  which  you  shall  ask.  We  have  no  port 
charges  nor  duties  to  exact,  either  of  foreign  vessels  visiting,  or  on  foreign 
articles  introduced  into  the  Colony. 

It  might,  I  think,  be  easy  to  open  and  keep  up,  a  frequent  correspondence 
with  the  Colony,  through  some  Dutch  House  in  Amsterdam  ;  who  might  di- 
rect their  vessels  to  touch  at  the  Cape  without  subjecting  them  to  more  than 
twelve  hours'  detention  on  their  way  to  D'Elmina,  on  the  Gold  Coast. 

Question  5th. 

"  What  part  of  the  outward  wants  of  the  missionary  establishment  might  be 
supplied  on  the  spot;  what  would  be  required  to  be  procured  from  a  distance  ; 
and  what  country  would  supply  it  best  and  most  expeditiously  ?" 

For  building,  may  be  had  in  the  Colony,  lumber,'  carpenter  and  smiths' 
work,  and  masons'  services ;  for  subsistence  before  the  settlement,  shall  be 
able  to  cultivate  its  own  rice,  vegetables,  &c.,  may  be  obtained  directly  from 
th«  natives,  grain,  fish,  fowls,  goats,  and  vegetables,  on  the  most  moderate  terms; 
a  few  small  stores  only,  in  the  article  of  provisions^  need  be  procured  from 
abroad,  and  I  hesitate  not  to  say,  that  these  stores  can  best  be  obtained  from 
the  United  States,  by  American  vessels. 

Remittances  made  to  your  Missionaries,  from  Europe  to  the  Colony,  could 
be  transferred  to  some  house  in  America,  without  loss  on  the  exchange,  and 
shipments  made  on  the  same  at  a  moderate  freight. 

Indeed  the  supply  for  the  Colony  is  so  economically  carried  on  with  the 
United  States,  as  to  admit  of  any  little  addition  for  a  missionary  settlement 
near  the  Colony,  with  perfect  facility,  and  I  believe  on  the  most  advantageous 
terms  possible. 

Question  Gth. 

"  Can  you  form  any  idea  of  the  possible  expense  of  the  first  establishment, 
of  a  Mission  on  a  small  scale,  and  its  continuance  ?'' 

It  has  been  found  by  a  course  of  experiments,  now  repeated  for  six  years, 
that  all  Europeans  and  Americans  coming  to  reside  in  Africa,  are  more  or  less 
affected  by  the  great  change  of  climate  attending  the  transition.  It  is  fair  to 


APPENDIX.  87 

calculate,  that  Missionaries  from  Switzerland  would,  during  the  first  half  year, 
be  incapacitated  from  much  actual  labor,  and  for  at  least  one-third  part  of  that 
period,  require  medical  and  hospital  attendance.  They  must,  during  this 
period,  find  a  home  at  one  of  the  settlements  of  the  Colony;  and  will  require 
many  little  comforts,  and  some  medicines,  all  of  which  they  ought  to  bring  out 
with  them  from  Europe.  Besides  this  provision,  they  ought  to  have  a  credit 
either  on  England  of  America,  or  money  in  hand,  to  meet  contingencies  during 
this  period,  of  one  hundred  dollars  per  person.  This  will  be  sufficient  for  their 
Wants,  preparatory  to  their  entrance  upon  the  regular  labors  of  the  Missions. 

Suppose  the  mission  family  to  consist  of  males  and  females  :  the  latter  ought 
'to  be  married,  and  as  many  of  the  former  as  do  riot  possess  the  power  of  un- 
common command  over  their  passions.  After  six  months  spent  in  the  Colony, 
they  remove  to  a  situation  previously  chosen,  having  an  easy  water  communi- 
cation with  our  principal  settlements.  They  would  require  a  large  well-built 
boat,  which  they  ought  to  bring  out  with  them.  Six  houses  must  then  be  built 
for  their  residence,  place  of  worship,  store  -house,  and  for  the  accommodation  of 
a  number  of  native  laborers  and  children,  all  of  whom  ought  to  receive  daily 
instruction  in  religion,  letters,  &c.  These  buildings  completed  in  the  best  native 
style,  will  not  cost  more  than  twenty-five  dollars  each:  and,  so  built,  will  need 
no  repairs  ;  but  must  be  replaced  with  new  buildings  at  the  end  of  four  or  five 
years. 

Meantime  let  the  Missionaries  employ  their  own  leisure,  and  the  services 
of  the  native  members  of  their  family,  in  constructing  permanent  houses  in  the 
Phiropean  style.  Mechanical  labor,  and  building  materials,  may  be  had  from 
the  Colony  :  but  only  at  prices  which  would  be  thought  high  even  in  Europe. 
If  you  have  funds  to  spare,  your  Missionaries  may  avail  themselves  of  aid  from 
this  quarter.  But  it  is  by  no  means  absolutely  necessary,  either  to  their  coin- 
fort  and  health,  or  to  the  establishment  and  success  of  this  Mission,  and  thou- 
sands would  be  saved  to  the  same  fund  on  which  it  will  be  still  necessary  to 
draw  for  purposes  of  less  questionable  necessity. 

You  ask,  "what  will  be  the  possible  expense  of  founding  and  sustaining  the 
settlement  ?"  The  necessary  expense  of  the  first  eighteen  months,  will  be  mode- 
rate. But  if  the  Missionaries  preserve  the  European  style  of  living — particu- 
larly an  European  table,  the  expense  will  be  great. 

Were  I  at  the  head  of  this  family,  the  six  months  seasoning  over,  and  a  com- 
fortable outfit  of  apparel,  and  little  domestic  utensils  and  furniture  on  hand:— 
I  should  accuse  myself  of  want  of  economy,  if  for  the  next  succeeding  twelve 
months,  including  the  six  buildings,  the  preparation  of  a  little  farm  and  garden, 
and  the  subsistence  of  twelve  to  twenty  native  laborers  and  pupils,  and  the  sup- 
port of  the  five  persons  constituting  the  Missionary  family,  I  should  expend 
more  than  $'1500.  I  hesitate  not  to  say,  that  comfort  and  economy  of  expen- 
diture may  be  more  easily  combined  in  this  country,  than  in  any  other  part  of 
the  heathen  world,  if  we  except  the  Islands  of  the  Pacific.  After  the  first  year, 
the  expenses  will  diminish,  in  proportion  to  the  age  of  the  settlement,  admit- 


APPENDIX. 

ting  the  number  of  its  members  to  be  stationary.  But  these  will,  of  course* 
be  multiplied  monthly.  I  cannot,  however,  yet  suppose  it  would  be  expedi- 
ent to  suffer  any  one  settlement  to  incur  an  annual  expense  of  more  than  three 
or  four  thousand  dollars  ;  but  to  send  off  from  it,  periodically,  the  instrument'? 
and  means  of  founding  new  ones,  either  along  the  coast,  or  farther  in  the 
interior. 

You  will  excuse  the  liberty  I  take  to  state  the  project  of  a  Missionary  estab- 
lishment by  your  Society  in  this  country.  The  family  consists  of  two  young 
married  men  and  their  wrives,  and  two  single  men :  all  well  educated — having 
some  knowledge  of  gardening,  and  the  useful  mechanic  arts.  Their  health 
shall  be  good — their  manners  plain,  and  all  inured  to  great  industry,  and  capa- 
ble of  enduring  fatigue,  and  submitting  to  great  privations  cheerfully.  They 
proceed  to  Amsterdam  or  Bristol,  England ;  lay  in  a  good  supply  of  useful 
books,  clothing,  stationery,  tools,  and  domestic  utensils,  and  small  furniture, 
with  groceries,*  and  sick-stores — and  money,  or  letters  of  credit  on  America, 
to  the  amount  of  two  thousand  dollars,  after  paying  the  passage  out  to  Montse- 
rado.  If  they  sail  from  Amsterdam,  they  take  passage  in  a  Dutch  ship, 
bound  to  D'Elmina,  which  is  to  touch  and  put  them  ashore  at  this  place:  if  from 
Bristol,  the  vessel  will  naturally  make  this  Cape  as  her  first  land.  They  pass 
their  first  half  year  in  the  Colony,  during  which  period  they  form  acquaintance 
among  the  colonists — become  familiarized  to  the  African  character — explore 
the  surrounding  country — visit  the  different  tribes — enter  into  arrangements 
with  the  country  authorities,  for  the  founding,  accommodation,  and  protection 
of  their  future  settlement — settle  a  definite  plan  of  future  operations — do  some 
good  to  our  own  people,  and  above  all,  acquire  a  habit  of  body  conformed  to 
the  sultry  influences  of  a  tropical  African  climate.  They  then  remove  to  the 
site  of  their  intended  establishment — avail  themselves  of  the  labor  of  as  many 
natives,  as  they  may  require  to  erect  the  first  houses — form  a  regular  family  of 
about  twenty  persons — begin  from  the  first,  the  great  work  of  teaching  the  na- 
tives— study  their  language:  if  the  Bassa,  collect  in  a  vocabulary,  all  its  words, 
construct  an  alphabet  and  a  grammar,  print  a  few  elementary  tracts,  translate 
select  portions  of  the  scriptures,  and  teach  the  young  negroes  to  read  and  write 
them  in  their  own  language.  If  the  language  is  Dey  or  Vey,  substitute  as  the 
written  language,  the  English;  but  preach  and  teach  in  the  native  dialect,  the 
older  classes.  Meantime  the  agriculture  and  mechanical  business  of  the  set- 
tlements is  o-arried  on  with  a  view  to  supply  the  wants  of  itself.  The  example 
thus  given,  will  have  its  effect:  first,  on  such  as  embrace  the  religion  of  the 
establishment,  who  will  naturally  come  to  settle  themselves  in  or  neai  to  it, 
and  afterwards  on  the  people  of  the  tribe  generally. 

In  the  foregoing  project,  perhaps  unnecessarily  minute,  you  will  perceive  no 
allowance  made  for  deaths,  protracted  illness,wars,  the  opposition  of  the  natives, 

*  Meaning  with  us,  tea,  sugar,  wine»  butter,  cheese,  and  other  articles  of  the 
kind. 


APPENDIX.  89 

discontent  and  perversity  on  the  part  of  the  Missionaries,  and  nameless  other 
casualties  which  may  occur,  and  are  at  the  disposal  of  the  Almighty.— The 
door  is  an  open  one  to  human  appearance,  but  God  may  close  it  suddenly  and 
entirely,  b}'  means  which  human  foresight  would  never  have  discovered.  But 
on  the  other  hand,  I  do  not,  Sir,  write  from  theory;  God  has  made  me  one  of  his 
humble  instruments  for  building  up,  amidst  unnumbered  difficulties  and  dis- 
couragements, from  the  humblest  beginnings,  a  flourishing  and  hopeful  Colony. 
I  have  descended  in  the  preceding  project,  by  your  kind  permission,  to  a  plain 
matter  of  fact  detail,  which  with  the.  blessing  of  Providence,  I  know  can  be  car- 
ried into  full  execution.  I  see  no  reason  for  delay. 

There  are  situations  offering,  which  I  should  account  it  a  very  great  privil- 
ege, to  be  able  to  provide  with  Missionary  families  immediately.  The  popu- 
lous country  of  Grand  Bassa,  is  one  of  these.  The  Chiefs  of  the  country  are 
importunate  in  their  demand,  for  good  white  men  to  come  and  reside  with  them, 
and  teach  them  the  Book  of  God,  and  the  good  customs  of  their  country.  They 
offer  to  provide  with  houses,  lands,  rice,  and  whatever  their  country  affords, 
such  as  shall  come  recommended  from  the  Colony.  Little  reliance  can  be 
placed  on  these  promises,  I  admit,  but  they  at  least  prove  the  commencement 
of  a  missionary  settlement  in  that  country,  to  be  easily  practicable. 

This  letter  will  be  accompanied  by  another  from  the  Directors  of  the  Colony 
in  Washington;  and  if  both  together  shall  authorize  an  establishment  by  your 
Society,  in  connection  with  this  Colony,  none  will  experience  a  sincerer  grati- 
fication, and  more  cheerfully  aid  in  the  undertaking,  according  to  his  ability, 
and  prior  obligations  ;  than, 

Rev.  and  Dear  Sir,  your  devoted, 

And  very  humble  Servant, 

J.  ASHMUN, 

Jlgcntfor  the  American  Colonization  Society , 
and  Principal  of  the  Colony  of  Liberia.     . 

P.  S.  In  the  project  of  a  Mission  to  this  country,  I  propose  that  the  Mission 
Family  have  an  outfit  of  two  thousand  dollars :  should  half  this  sum  be  laid 
out  in  trade  goods  in  Europe,  the  advantage  would  be  great;  and  this  purchase 
ought  to  have  been  particularly  insisted  upon,  in  the  body  of  the  letter.  Of  this 
merchandise  the  chief  articles  are  Leaf- Tobacco,  large  smoking  pipes,  common 
printed  Cottons,  India  Cottons,  Cotton  and  Silk  Handkerchiefs,  Pocket  Look- 
ing-Glasses,  common  Beads,  Cutlery,  cheap  Hats,  Iron  Pots  and  Cast  Ware, 
Iron  Bars,  Earthen,  and  Glass  Ware.  The  four  first  enumerated  of  these  ar- 
ticles, are  the  most  important. 

J.A. 
M 


90  APPENDIX. 

No.  9. 

Mr.  Ashmun  was  censured  by  individuals  in  the  United  Stales 
for  his  bold  and  successful  attacks  on  these  and  other  Slave 
Factories  on  the  Coast.  The  following  paper  contains  his  own 
vindication  of  his  proceedings  against  these  enemies  of  the  hu- 
man race. 

MONROVIA,  FEBRUARY  10,  1827. 

SIR  :  In  regard  to  the  demolition  of  the  piratical  slaving  establishments  in 
the  neighborhood  of  our  settlements,  and  on  our  own  Territory,  which  your 
letter  as  the  organ  of  the  Board  and  of  the  public  opinion  in  the  United  States 
disapproves,  it  is  not  my  wish  to  add  any  thing  to  the  narrative  of  those  trans- 
actions already  in  the  possession  of  the  Board.  One  or  two  points,  however, 
explaining  the  leading  motive  from  which  I  acted,  I  desire  to  place  in  the 
clearest  light,  and  submit  myself  to  the  wisdom  and  candor  of  the  Managers, 
Society  and  Public. 

1.  These  establishments  were  not  demolished  on  the  ground,  merely  of  their  being 
Slaving  Establishments.    The  slave  trade  as  carried  on  by  foreigners  with  the 
independent  tribes  of  the  country,  is  an  evil,  which,  however  deplorable.  I 
have  always  been  sensible  that  I  have  not  the  shadow  of  a  right  to  attack  and 
subdue  by  force — nor  simply  as  such  have  I  attempted  it.    Nor 

2.  Did  I  derive  any  authority  from  my  appointment  and  instructions  from  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  to  demolish  slave  factories  in  this  country.    I  i 
consider  myself  to  have  been  authorized,  as  United  States'  Agent  for  recap- 
tured Africans,  to  rescue  the  individuals  belonging  to  the  Agency  from  the 
factories  of  St.  Paul's  and  Trade  Town  ;  and  after  a  simple  demand  had 
proved  ineffectual,  to  do  it  by  force.     But  not  destroy  those  or  any  other 
slaving  establishments  in  virtue  of  any  authority  I  possessed  as  the  Government 
Agent.    But 

3.  On  the  principle  of  self -preservation,  I  possessed  the  right  as  the  head  of  the 
little  community  which  your  Society  has  planted  in  this  country,  to  pursue  a  pirate, — 
HOSTIS  GENERIS  HUMANi,  by  sea  and  land — and  deprive  him  by  means  of  any  force 
at  my  disposal,  of  the  power  which  he  had  previously  employed  for  the  indiscriminate 
destruction  and  plunder  of  human  life  and  property.  I  followed  him  to  his  haunt 
at  Digby  by  permission,  and  demolished  his  factory,  with  the  assistance  of 
the  independent  authorities  of  the  country.  The  expedition  in  its  es- 
sential motives  and  causes,  had  no  relation  to  the  slaving  business.  That  in 
breaking  up  the  establishment  of  the  pirate,  a  few  negroes  fell  into  my  hands, 
I  never  regarded  in  any  other  light  than  an  accidental  circumstance  :  as  also, 
the  effect  which  the  destruction  of  the  piratical  factory,  has  happily  had  in 
curtailing  the  slave  trade.  I  rejoice  in  this  effect — but  self-defence  against  a 
set  of  marauding  outlaws,  was  the  motive  of  the  expedition. 


APPKNDIX.  91 

4-.  The  French  establishment  at  Mammas  was  destroyed.  1st.  rfs  being 
situated  within  our  purchased  territory  and  jurisdiction  :  and  consequently  pro- 
hibited by  the  constitution,  institutions  and  spirit  of  all  the  laws  of  the  Colony. 
My  permission  had  never  been  obtained  or  asked  for  the  continuance  of  this 
factory,  after  the  purchase  which  placed  it  within  our  limits.  And  2dly.  ^s 
an  establishment  at  war  with  all  the  principles  of  law,  justice  and  society — and 
ii'hich  had,  by  kidnapping,  or  purchasing,  and  attempting  to  detain  in  slavery  the 
free  people  from  the  Colony,  openly  declared,  and  made  itself  thus  hostile,  and  in- 
jurious with  all  that  part  of  the  civilized  world  with  which  it  came  in  contact* — 
The  injury  they  attempted  to  inflict  upon  us  was  deep  and  vital ;  and  the  at- 
tempt was  openly  avowed,  and  carried  to  the  extreme  extent  of  their  power. 
These  were  the  causes  assigned  in  a  written  exposition  of  my  motives,  de- 
livered to  Millot  and  Poussin,  in  the  morning  of,  and  immediately  before 
breaking  up  their  establishment. 

5.  The  Spanish  establishment  at  Trade  Town,  was  notoriously  piratical. 
The  v.essel  which  upheld  it,  was  at  my  request,  seized  by  the  French  Brig  of 
War,  the  Dragon,  and  condemned  at  Goree,  on  a  charge  of  piracy,  sustained  by 
five  distinct  specifications.  The  connexion  of  this  vessel  with  the  business 
ashore,  was  such  as  to  implicate  the  whole  in  the  guilt  of  its  piratical  acts. 
This  is  my  first  reason,  as  Colonial  Agent  for  breaking  up  the  Spanish  estab- 
lishment at  this  place.  2dly.  In  buying  eight  of  our  people,  refusing  to  sur- 
render them  to  my  demand  ;  and  employing  force  and  arms  to  sustain  their 
refusal,  the  Spaniards  of  Trade  Town,  had  virtually  made  war  on  the  Colony, 
and  justified  the  employment  of  force  for  oar  preservation  and  safety.  3dly. 
The  employment  of  force  was  the  only  means  of  rescuing  eight  of  the  people 
belonging  to  Montserado  from  the  power  of  the  piratical  and  belligerent 
establishment. 

King  West  made  himself  and  people,  a  party  in  the  contest,  on  the  second 
day,  by  making  the  cause  of  the  Spaniard,  his  own — justifying  and  imitating 
this  injurious  act — and  actually  attacking  the  force  under  my  command. 

The  preceding  review  of  the  transactions  of  last  season,  presents,  not  only 
their  main  features,  divested  of  circumstances  necessary  to  be  stated  in  the 
original  report,  but  of  no  use  in  determining  how  far  my  agency  in  them  is 
justifiable.  I  do  not  controvert  the  opinion  of  the  Board,  that  the  course  pur  sued  by 
me  was  impolitic;  as  I  am  sensible  they  can  best  judge  of  the  nature  and  effects 
on  the  prosperity  of  our  cause,  of  the  impressions  which  those  transactions 
will  produce  on  the  American  public.  But  of  the  justice  and  necessity  of  that 
course,  in  a  moral  point  of  view,  it  is  not  in  my  power  after  the  most  deliber- 
ate review  of  it,  to  raise  a  doubt  in  my  own  mind.  Nor  do  I  perceive  that,  on 
this  last  point,  the  opinion  conveyed  by  your  letter  is  much  at  variance  with 
my  own.  it  would  probably  be  less  so,  if  it  were  perfectly  known  with  what 
religious  circumspection,  I  abstained  from  any  act,  which  malevolence  itself 
could  justly  denominate  offensive.  On  landing,  I  issued  an  order,  forbidding 
my  ppoplo  on  the  severest  penalty  to  appropriate  to  themselves  the*  most  trivial 


92  APPENDIX. 

article,  or  amount  of  the  property  of  the  factory.  And  this  order  was  most 
rigorously  enforced.  I  paid  the  troops  on  their  return  a  per  diem  allowance 
fixed  before  they  had  volunteered  their  services  for  the  expedition.  We  acted, 
sir,  on  the  defensive,  strictly— and  I  trust,  acted  with  all  that  deliberate  and 
cautious  respect  to  justice,  and  that  sense  of  responsibility  to  God  and  man, 
which  ought  to  characterize  a  resort  to  force  by  a  Christian  people.  The  mo- 
tive, I  know,  does  not  always  vindicate  the  act.  But  I  wish  to  remove  wrong 
impressions,  as  to  the  manner  in  which  our  expeditions  were  conducted.  I 
may  and  often  do  err  in  judgment.  But  my  errors  are  not  those  of  precipi- 
tancy, which  excludes  reflection  :  and  our  military  expeditions,  if  conducted 
with  decision,  were  not  blindly  engaged  in,  nor  submitted  to  the  guidance  of 
passion  or  circumstances.  And  if  God  has  made  them  instrumental  of  the 
abolition  of  the  slave  trade  near  us,  the  increase  of  our  trade,  the  emancipa- 
tion of  nearly  200  slaves,  the  extension  of  our  influence,  and  increase  of  our 
territory,  thanks  to  his  own  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness.  Those  were  not 
the  objects  for  which  I  undertook  them,  nor  the  effects  from  which  I  infer 
their  justification. 

It  may  not  be  beneath  a  moment's  attention  to  remark  here  on  that  part  of 
Captain  C — 's  libel,  which  says  "  that,  owing  to  the  quantity  of  plunder  we 
brought  from  Trade  Town,  Bafts  were  selling  at  $1  the  piece,  at  Montserado, 
and  other  goods  in  proportion."  I  repeat  it,  neither  I  nor  my  people  brought 
a  fragment  of  Merchandise  or  any  other  property  from  Trade  Town.  But 
two  Colombian  armed  vessels,  the  Jacenta  and  El  Vencedore,  then  on  a 
cruize  against  the  enemies  of  that  Republic,  were  permitted  to  sell  by  auction 
in  Town,  such  part  of  their  prize  goods  as  they  could  not  convey  to  Laguayra  ; 
and  these  goods  sold  greatly  below  their  real  value. 

El  Vencedore,  I  believe  to  sustain,  as  a  private  armed  vessel,  a  highly  re- 
spectable character.  I  never  heard  to  the  contrary  intimated  either  of  the  ves- 
sel or  her  Commander.  It  is  not  true  that  the  vessel  ever  molested  or  at- 
tempted to  molest  British  commerce  on  this  coast,  or  was  ever  chased  by  an 
English  Man-of-war. 

It  is  true  that  a  Spanish  Pirate  at  Trade  Town,  detained,  after  being  thrice 
demanded,  from  five  to  eight  of  our  people — five  were  identified  and  admitted 
by  the  Spaniard,  and  by  West,  the  native  king,  to  belong  to  us— and  still  de- 
tained. It  is  not  true  that  one  musket  was  fired  by  us  on  the  natives,  for  more 
than  24  hours  after  being  in  quiet  possession  of  the  Town ;  nor  then,  till  we 
had  received  volleys  from  them,  which  I  forbade  to  be  returned,  at  the  immi- 
nent hazard  of  my  own  and  people's  lives,  in  hopes,  even  then,  to  conciliate 
them  by  forbearance. 


APPENDIX.  93 

No.  10. 

We  here  insert  letters  expressive  of  the  views  of  Ex-Presi- 
Madison  and  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  on  the  subject  of  Afri- 
can Colonization, 

MONTPELIER,  DECEMBER  29,  1831. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  received,  in  due  time,  your  letter  of  the  21st  ult,  and  with 
niue  sensibility  to  the  subject  of  it.     Such,  however,  has  been  the  effect  of  a 
painful  (rheumatism  on  my  general  condition,  as  well  as  in  disqualifying  my 
{fingers  for  the  use  of  the  pen,  that  I  could  not  do  justice  "  to  the  principles 
and  measures  of  the  Colonization  Society  in  all  the  great  and  various  relations 
they  sustain  to  our  own  country  and  to  Africa/'  if  my  views  of  them  could 
have  the  value  which  your  partiality  supposes.     I  may  observe,  in  brief,  that 
fthe  Society  had  always  my  good  wishes,  though  with  hopes  of  its  success  less 
sanguine  than  were  entertained  by  others  found  to  have  been  the  better  judges ; 
and,  that  I  feel  the  greatest  pleasure  at  the  progress  already  made  by  the  So- 
•ciety,  and  the  encouragement  to  encounter  remaining  difficulties  afforded  by 
•the  eariier  anfi  greater  ones  already  overcome.    Many  circttinstances  at  the 
^present  moment  seem  to  concur  in  brightening  the  prospects  of  the  Society, 
and  cherishing  the  hope  that  the  time  will  come,  when  the  drea^ul  calamity 
which  has  so  long  afflicted  our  country  and  filled  so  many  with  despair,  will  be 
gradually  removed  and  by  means  consistent  with  justice,  peace  and  tl/e  general 
satisfaction  :  thus  giving  to  our  country  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  bles  'sings  of 
liberty,  and  to  the  world  the  full  benefit  of  its  great  example.    I  neve  T  con" 
•sidered  the  main  difficulty  of  the  great  work  as  lying  in  the  deficient \T  °^ 
-emancipations,  but  in  an  inadequacy  of  asylums  for  such  a  growing  mass    °f 
population,  and  in  the  great  expense  of  removing  it  to  its  new  home.    Tht 
spirit  of  private  manumission  as  the  laws  may  permit  and  the  exiles  may  con- 
sent, is  increasing  and  will  increase  ;  and  there  are  sufficient  indications  that 
Ihe  public  authorities  an  slave-holding  States  are  looking  forward  to  interposi- 
tions in  different  forms  that  must  have  a  powerful  effect.    With  respect  to  the 
inew  abode  for  the  emigrants,  all  agree  that  the  choice  made  by  the  Society  is 
rendered  peculiarly  appropriate  by  considerations  which  need  not  be  repeated, 
and  if  other  situations  should  not  be  found  eligible  receptacles  for  a  portion  of 
them,  the  prospects  ia  Africa  seem  to  be  expanding  in  a  highly  encouraging 
degree. 

In  contemplating  the  pecuniary  resources  needed  for  the  removal  of  such  a 
number  to  so  great  a  distance,  my  thoughts  and  hopes  have  been  long  turned 
to  the  rich  fund  presented  in  the  western  lands  of  the  Nation,  which  will  soon 
entirely  cease  to  be  under  a  pledge  for  another  object.  The  great  one  in 
question  is  truly  of  a  national  character,  and  it  is  known  that  distinguished 
patriots  not  dwelling  in  slave-holding  States  havo  viewed  the  object  in  that 


94  APPENDIX:. 

ii^ht,  and  would  be  willing  to  let  the  national  domain  be  a  resource  in  effect- 
ing it. 

Should  it  be  remarked  that  the  States,  though  all  may  be  interested  in  re- 
lieving our  country  from  the  colored  population,  they  are  not  equally  so ;  it  is 
but  fair  to  recollect,  that  the  sections  most  to  be  benefitted,  are  those  whose 
cessions  created  the  fund  to  be  disposed  of. 

I  am  aware  of  the  constitutional  obstacle  which  has  presented  itself;  but  if 
the  general  will  be  reconciled  to  an  application  of  the  territorial  fund  to  the 
removal  of  the  colored  population,  a  grant  to  Congress  cf  the  necessary 
authority  could  be  carried,  with  little  delay,  through  the  forms  of  the  Con- 
stitution. 

Sincerely  wishing  an  increasing  success  to  the  labors  of  the  Society,  I  pray 
you  to  be  assured  of  my  esteem,  and  to  accept  my  friendly  salutation. 

JAMES  MADISON. 


RICHMOND,  DECEMBER  14,  1831. 

DEAR  SIR  :  I  received  your  letter  of  the  7th,  in  the  course  of  the  mail,  but 
it  was  not  accompanied  by  the  documents  you  mention. 

I  undoubtedly  fed  a  deep  interest  in  the  success  of  the  Society,  but,  if  I 
had  not  long  since  formed  a  resolution  against  appearing  in  print  on  any  oc- 
casion, I  should  be  now  unable  to  comply  with  your  request.  In  addition  to 
various  occupations  which  press  on  me  very  seriously,  the  present  state  of  my 
family  is  suoh  as  to  prevent  my  attempting  to  prepare  any  thing  for  publica- 
tion. 

The  p/eat  object  of  the  Society,  I  presume,  is  to  obtain  pecuniary  aids. 
Application  will  undoubtedly  be  made,  I  hope  successfully,  to  the  several  State 
Legislatures  by  the  societies  formed  within  them  respectively.  It  is  extremely 
desirable  that  they  should  pass  permanent  laws  on  the  subject,  and  the  excite- 
rjent  produced  by  the  late  insurrection  makes  this  a  favorable  moment  for  the 
friends  of  the  Colony  to  press  for  such  acts.  It  would  be  also  desirable,  if 
such  a  direction  could  be  given  to  State  Legislation  as  might  have  some  ten- 
dency to  incline  the  people  of  color  to  migrate.  This,  however,  is  a  subject 
of  much  delicacy.  Whatever  may  be  the  success  of  our  endeavors  to  obtain 
acts  for  permanent  aids,  I  have  no  doubt  that  our  applications  for  immediate 
contributions  will  receive  attention.  It  is  possible,  though  not  probable,  that 
more  people  of  color  may  be  disposed  to  migrate  than  can  be  provided  for 
with  the  funds  the  Society  may  be  enabled  to  command.  Under  this  impres- 
sion I  suggested,  some  years  past,  to  one  or  two  of  the  Board  of  Managers, 
to  allow  a  small  additional  bounty  in  lands  to  those  who  would  pay  their  own 
passage  in  whole  or  in  part.  The  suggestion,  however,  was  not  approved. 

It  is  undoubtedly  of  great  importance  to  retain  the  countenance  and  pro- 
tection of  the  General  Government.  Some  of  our  cruisers  stationed  on  the 
coast  of  Africa  would,  at  the  same  time,  interrupt  the  slave  trade — a  horrid 
traffic  detested  by  all  good  men,  and  would  protect  the  vessels  and  commerce 


APPENDIX.       .  95 

trf  Ihc  Colony  from  pirates  who  infect  those  seas.  The  power  of  Hie  govern- 
ment to  afford  this  aid  is  not,  I  believe,  contested.  I  regret  that  its  power  to 
grant  pecuniary  aid  is  not  equally  free  from  question.  On  this  subject,  I  have  al- 
ways thought,  and  still  think,  that  the  proposition  made  by  Mr.  King,  in  the 
Senate,  is  the  mo^t  unexceptionable,  and  the  most  effective  that  can  be  de- 
vised. 

The  fund  would  probably  operate  as  rapidly  as  would  be  desirable,  when 
\ve  take  into  view  the  other  resources  which  might  come  in  aid  of  it,  and  its 
application  would  be,  perhaps,  less  exposed  to  those  constitutional  objections 
xvhich  are  made  in  the  South  than  the  application  of  money  drawn  from  the 
Treasury  and  raised  by  taxes.    The  lands  are  the  property  of  the  United 
States,  and  have  heretofore  been  disposed  of  by  the  government  under  the 
idea  of  absolute  ownership.    The  cessions  of  the  several  States  convey  them 
to  the  General  Government  for  the  common  benefit,  without  prescribing  any 
limits  to  the  judgment  of  Congress,  or  any  rule  by  which  that  judgment  shall 
he  exercised.    The  cession  of  Virginia  indeed  seems  to  look  to  an  apportion- 
ment of  the  fund  among  the  States,  "according  to  their  several  respective 
proportions  in  the  general  charge  and  expenditure."    But  this  cession  was 
made  at  a  time  when  the  lands  were  believed  to  be  the  only  available  fund  for 
paying  the  debts  of  the  United  States  and  supporting  their  Government.  This 
condition  has  probably  been  supposed  to  be  controlled  by  the  existing  Consti- 
tution, which  gives  Congress  "power  to  dispose  of,  and  make  all  needful 
rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territories  or  the  property  belonging  to 
Ihe  United  States."    It  is  certain  that  the  donations  made  for  roads  and  col- 
leges are  not  in  proportion  to  the  part  borne  by  each  State  of  the  general  ex- 
penditure.   The  removal  of  our  colored  population  is,  I  think,  a  common 
object,  by  no  means  confined  to  the  slave  States,  although  they  are  more  im- 
mediately interested  in  it.    The  whole  Union  would  be  strengthened  by  it, 
and  relieved  from  a  danger,  whose  extent  can  scarcely  be  estimated.    It  lessens 
very  much  in  my  estimation,  the  objection  in  a  political  view  to  the  applica- 
tion of  this  ample  fund,  that  our  lands  are  becoming  an  object  for  which  the 
States  are  to  scramble,  and  which  threatens  to  sow  the  seeds  of  discord  among 
us,  instead  of  being  what  they  might  be — a  source  of  national  wealth. 
I  am,  dear,  sir,  with  great  and  respectful  esteem, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.  MARSHALL. 

RESOLUTION,  submitted  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  by  the  Hon.        y 
Rufus  King,  of  New-York,  February  18th,  1825. 

Resolved,  That  as  soon  as  the  portion  of  the  existing  funded  debt  of  the 
United  States.,  for  the  payment  of  which  the  Public  Land  of  the  United  States 
is  pledged,  shall  have  been  paid  off,  then  and  thenceforth,  the  whole  of  the 
Public  Land  of  the  United  States  with  the  nett  proceeds  of  all  future  sales 
thereof,  shall  constitute  or  form  a  fund,  which  is  hereby  appropriated,  and  th» 


96  APFEKfUX. 

Faith  of  the  United  States  is  pledged,  that  the  said  fund  shall  be  inviolably  ap- 
plied to  aid  the  emancipation  of  such  slaves,  within  any  of  the  United  States, 
and  aid  the  removal  of  such  slaves,  and  the  removal  of  such  free  people  of 
color  in  any  of  the  said  States,  as  by  the  laws  of  the  Stales  respectively,  may 
be  allowed  to  be  emancipated,  or  removed  to  any  territory  or  country  without 
the  limits  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

The  followingresolution  was  moved  by  Mr.  Tucker,  of  Virginia,  in  Congress, 
March  2d,  1825  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  War  be  required,  to  ascertain  the  pro- 
bable expense  of  extinguishing  the  Indian  Title  to  a  portion  of  the  country 
lying  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  that  may  be  suitable  for  colonizing,  the 
free  people  of  color ;  the  best  routes  across  the  Mountains,  and  the  probable 
cost  of  a  road  and  military  post,  necessary  to  a  safe  communication  with  such* 
Colony,  and  to  report  the  same  to  this  House,  at  the  next  Session  of  Congress , 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Land  Bill  introduced  by  the  Hon.  Henry  Clay,  and 
which  passed  the  Senate  on  the  25th  of  January,  1832,  provided  for  the  distri- 
bution of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  Public  Lands,  among,  the  twenty-four 
States  of  the  Union,  according  to  their  respective  federal  representative  popu- 
lation, "to  be  applied  by  the  Legislatures  of  the  said  States,  to  such  objects  of 
education,  internal  improvement,  colonization  of  free  persons  of  color,  or  re- 
imbursement of  any  existing  debt,  contracted  for  internal  improvement,  as-  the 
said  Legislatures  may  severally  designate  and  authorize/* 


No.  10, 

Miscellaneous  Papers  of  Mr.  Ashmun, 

No.  *.— 1819. 

Question.    What  rules  are  to  be  observed  in  order  to  improve  the  gift  of  prayer  ? 

The  gift  of  prayer  principally  respects  the  manner  in  which  the  overt  part 
of  the  duty  is  performed ;  and  it  is  valuable,  considered  as  conducing  to  the 
improvement  of  the  hearers,  rather  than  to  the  person  who  performs  the  duty. 
Buf  we  seldom  contribute  to  the  improvement  of  others,  without  benefiting  our- 
selves. The  gift  of  prayer  is  therefore  valuable,  as  respects  the  possessor;  and 
as  it  consists  in  the  ability  to  pray  with  external  propriety  and  effect,  it  must 
greatly  depend  on  possessing  a  spirit  of  prayer,  Fro»  this  consideration,  I 


APPENDIX.  97 

deduce  the  first  rule  to  assist  us  in  acquiring  the  gift  of  prayer.  Cultivate  a 
praying  spirit. 

The  Spirit  of  God,  which  is  necessary  to  produce  and  preserve  the  spirit  of 
acceptable  prayer,  not  only  assists  the  possessor  to  perform  Christian  duties  to  the 
acceptance  of  God,  but  for  the  edification  of  men.  By  this  sacred  influence  reign- 
ing in  the  breast,  the  objects  with  which  we  converse  in  prayer, become  familiar- 
ized to  the  mind;  and  in  regard  to  familiar  objects,  we  ever  express  ourselves 
with  more  promptitude,  and  pertinency,  than  of  others.  The  Spirit  of  God  like- 
wise makes  us  acquainted  with  his  glorious  perfections,  and  the  sublime  things 
of  his  kingdom  in  their  proper  nature.  We  all  know  that  it  is  essential  to  elo- 
quence to  be  able  to  seize  on  the  most  striking  points  of  a  subject,  and  present 
it  in  the^  most  affecting  attitude.  In  order  to  this  we  must  be  so  fully  and  exactly 
acquainted  with  our  subject,  as  to  be  able  to  see,  and  select,  its  most  appropri- 
ate and  impressive  features.  The  same  remark  is  good  with  a  little  qualification 
in  regard  to  the  acquirement  of  a  talent  to  pray  with  due  effect.  Hence  the  im- 
portance of  the  aids  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  by  "  which  we  may  know  the  things 
of  God."  , 

The  next  rule  that  I  shall  prescribe  for  acquiring  this  gift,  is  to  obtain  a  just 
and  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  language,  and  sentiments  of  the  Scriptures. 

A  great  part  of  tiie  elFect  of  prayer  on  the  minds  of  the  hearers,  is  owing  to 
an  appropriate  introduction  of  the  transcendently  sublime  and  impressive  con- 
ceptions of  the  inspired  writers.  Those  conceptions  are  always  just — they 
carry  with  them  the  influence  of  truth — and  as  they  concern  the  most  affect- 
ing of  all  truths,  and  are  conformable  to  them,  they  cannot  fail  to  affect  them- 
selves. The  figures  of  Scripture  do,  to  a  certain  extent  constitute  a  species 
of  language  for  which  the  plain  historic  style  could  never  be  substituted  with- 
out the  sacrifice  of  sentiment. 

The  figures  of  Scripture,  wrhen  employed  by  the  inspired  writers  to  illustrate- 
or  enforce  what  might  be  expressed  in  a  plain  style,  never  fail  of  their  end;  and 
add  greatly  to  the  life  and  energy  of  prayer,  when  judiciously  used. 

The  language  and  style  of  the  sacred  writings,  after  all  due  abatements  are 
made  for  the  antiquity  of  our  translation,  and  for  Greek  and  Hebrew  idioms, 
must  be  regarded  as  the  most  simple,  concise-,  energetic,  and  copious  vehicle 
of  thought  that  has  ever  been  employed  in  ou-r  world.  Were  our  object  the 
perfection  of  eloquence,  no  composition  wrould  be  more  worthy  to  be  studied 
with  care  than  the  sacred  writings. 

For  a  third  rule,  I  enjoin  frequency  in  the  exercise  of  prayer. 

Facility  in  the  accurate  performance  of  any  act,  which  involves  an  exercise^ 
of  the  judgment,  is  acquired,  only,  by  the  frequent,  and  careful  repetition  of  that 
act.  In  virtue  of  an  established  law  of  Divine  operation  in  the  moral  world,., 
even  the  spirit  of  prayer  is  cultivated  by  the  frequent  practice  of  the  duty. 
How  much  more,  then,  may  we  suppose  the  gift  of  prayer,  which  it  is  notim,:- 
proper  to  say  is  in  a  high  degree  artificial,  to  depend  on  practice  ?. 

N 


98  APPENDIX. 

God,  by  his  special  blessing,  makes  proficients  of  those  who  habitually  wait 
on  him,  in  the  sincere  discharge  of  any  religious  duty. 

My  last  rule,  in  reply  to  the  question,  shall  be  to  study  to  improve  in  the  man- 
ner of  performing  this  duly,  in  all  our  addresses  to  God,  private  as  well  aspublic. 

The  principal  attention  ought  to  be  ever  bestowed  on  the  heart,— and  to  of- 
fer acceptable  desires  to  God,  ever  sought  as  an  object  immensely  preferable 
to  that  of  commending  ourselves  to  the  acceptance  of  our  fellow-men.  But 
there  is  a  species  of  remissness  of  spirit,  which  often  produces  negligence  in 
the  choice  of  words,  and  a  confused  and  languid  manner  of  expression,  against 
which,  as  well  as  those  faults  that  result  from  it,  we  ought  ever  to  be  guarded. 
The  mind  should,  in  this  duty,  be  awake.  God  should  be  felt  and  feared,  as 
present.  The  mind  will  then  naturally  apply  itself  to  every  part  of  the  duty, 
with  the  utmost  care.  Away  with  every  thing  like  affectation,  from  the  re- 
sponsible and  awful  work  of  addressing  the  God  of  our  salvation.  Affected 
solemnity, — affected  elegance  of  expression  and  eloquence  in  the  style,  gesture, 
or  voice,  are  alike  criminal,  and  degrading  to  the  sacred  dignity  of  the  perform- 
ance. There  is  a  becoming  attention  to  arrangement  and  language  in  prayer, 
that  is  not  at  all  inconsistent  with  devotion  ;  nay,  which  contributes  to  promote 
devotion — and  this  is  the  case  which  the  rule  prescribes,  and  enjoins. — Any 
sensible  effort  of  the  mind,  which  maybe  requisite  at  first,  to  correct  a  habit  of 
negligence,  even  should  it  check  the  ardor  of  feeling,  will  imperceptibly  be 
gotten  over,  and  abundantly  compensated  by  the  increase  of  our  usefulness  in 
the  church,  and  the  eventual  promotion  of  our  own  progress  in  enlightened 
Piety.  

The  advantages  of  Devotion* 

No.  2.— 1825. 

1.  It  calls  the  slumbering  faculties  of  the  mind  into  a  state  of  temperate, 
rational  and  cheerful  action  ;  which,  besides  the  pleasure  attending  the  con- 
sciousness of  intellectual  vigour  and  life,  fits  us  better  than  any  other  stimulus, 
to  perceive,  judge,  reason  and  resolve,  with  distinctness,  truth  and  promptness, 
in  all  the  business  and  concerns  of  life. 

2.  It  delivers  the  mind  from  the  perturbation  of  the  passions,  and  so  extends 
the  empire  of  reason  in  the  breast. 

3.  It  silences  the  remonstrances,  and  quiets  the  alarms  of  conscience. 

4.  It  secures  the  concurrence  of  Divine  Providence  in  cur  endeavors  to  da 
our  duty.  If  God  should,  notwithstanding,  send  disappointments  and  adversity, 
it  renders  even  these  salutary,  and  satisfies  the  mind  that  they  are  so. 

5.  It  inspires  us  with  patience,  resolution,  and  a  spirit  of  faithfulness,  and 
perseverance,  in  all  the  difficult  duties  of  life. 

These  are  some  of  the  blessed  fruits  of  devotion,  which  I  know  not,  that  I 
have  ever  failed  to  reap,  whenever  it  has  been  sincerely  and  faithfully  practised: 
and  they  are  advantages  which  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  enjoy  in  the  neglect 


APPENDIX,  99 

of  it.— But  they  are  only  the  concomitant  circumstances  of  a  devout  practice. 
The  essential  and  direct  blessings  which  devotion  brings,  are, 

1.  An  humbling  and  abiding  conviction  of  the  blindness,  weakness,  and 
wickedness  of  our  poor  natures — accompanied  writh  a  corresponding  sense  and 
persuasion  of  the  sufficiency  of  our  Lord  and  Father  in  Heaven. 

2.  A  sublime  and  heart-expanding  sentiment  of  the  ineffable  perfections, 
glory,  and  majesty  of  Jehovah.    It  is  only  by  intimate  and  long  continued  in- 
tercourse with  God  through  the  Spirit,  that  his  true  nature  can  be  learnt ;  and 
O !  how  unspeakably  holy,  lovely,  and  adorable  do  the  glimpses  of  his  glory, 
which  sometimes  dart  into  the  devout  soul,  show  him  !  They  carry  with  them- 
selves an  evidence  springing  from  the  eternal  source  of  truth  and  .light,  which 
satisfies  the  mind  that  God  is  the  true  God,  that  Christ  is  indeed  the  Son  of  God, 
and  that  the  gospel  is  the  true  testimony  of  the  grace  of  God.      I  never  fully 
believed  'till  the  Holy  Ghost  thus  convinced  me.    1  doubt  and  disbelieve  still, 
except  as  my  faith  is  enlivened  by  this  inward  illumination  of  God's  Spirit. 

3.  Devotion  teaches  us  the  offices  and  glory  of  the  Redeemer.   It  shows  us 
our  insufficiency  in  ourselves.     We  look  beyond  ourselves  for  help.  We  have 

a  strong  feeling  of  our  need  of  some  aid,  which  no  earthly  hand  can  afford  us. 
We  cannot  come  to  God  for  it  directly.  We  want  arguments  to  plead  with  him 
why  he  should  show  us  mercy.  Then  comes  to  our  view  the  Saviour,  Jesus 
Christ — the  very  desire  of  our  souls.  He  satisfies  all  our  expectations,  and 
supplies  all  the  deficiencies  and  inabilities,  under  which  our  souls  were  despond- 
ing. We  contemplate  this  wonderful  Redeemer  in  a  nearer  and  still  nearer 
view  as  devotion  warms,  and  faith  gains  strength  in  the  mind.  He  is  .all,  and 
more,  and  better,  than  we  ever  felt  our  wretched  case  require.  We  rejoice  in 
liim  as  those  who  unexpectedly  acquire  immense  riches.  The  soul  is  all  de- 
light, astonishment,  humility,  adoration,  and  thankfulness.  That  he  is  God, 
we  learn  by  a  sort  of  intuitive  and  experimental  feeling  of  his  grace  and  pow- 
er. That  he  is  man,  is  a  truth,  which  1  think  depends  more  on  the  testimony 
of  the  Scriptures,  than  his  Divinity.  But  this  inward  illumination  directs  us 
to,  illustrates,  enforces,  and  applies  the  doctrines  of  his  written  word.  And 
the  word  enables  us  to  judge  of  the  inward  light  which  irradiates  the  mind, 
that  it  is  of  God. — Both  agree.  We  find  the  same  holy  unction  which  pervades 
the  mind  running  through  all  the  doctrines  and. mysteries  of  the  written  word. 
The  word  is  nothing  without  this  Spirit.  The  influence  of  the  Spirit,  was  never 
designed  to  be  perfect  and  complete  in  itself  without  the  word.  But  together, 
their  testimony  is  demonstrative,  their  guidance  is  infallible— They  lead  the 
soul,  by  a  path  that  never  deceives,  to  God  its  portion  and  its  salvation. 

Devotion  is  the  proper  business  of  the  human  mind.  In  every  other  employ- 
ment, it  serves  below  its  nature.  Here  it  walks  at  large  in  its  native  dignity ; 
and  basking  in  the  sun-shine  of  the  Deity,  rejoices  in  its  own  element.  Exist- 
ence runs  to  waste,  when  through  indolence,  or  the  hurry  of  business,  I  omit 
my  daily  retirement  and  intercourse  with  God.  Would  that  I  never  may  omit 
it  more.  For  I  cannot  preserve  a  devout  frame  of  spirit,  without,  if  I  may  so 


100  APPENDIX. 

term  it,  the  labor  of  devotion.  God  my  teacher,  Holy  Spirit,  inspirer  of  every 
good  thought,  Author  of  every  acceptable  work,  make  me  a  diligent  waiter 
evermore  at  the  posts  of  thy  doors,  an  earnest  seeker  of  thy  face,  and  the  rejoic- 
ing object  of  thy  favor,  through  Christ  Jesus,  my  Lord  Amen. 


Divine  Providence. 

Ko.  3.— 1825. 

One  would  suppose  that  the  contemplation  of  the  minute  mechanism  of  the 
vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms  of  nature— contrived  in  every  individual  after 
the  same  specific  model — complicated  beyond  the  power  of  human  sagacity  to 
comprehend — and  exact  and  perfect  in  its  operation,  beyond  the  simplest  pro- 
ductions of  art — not  a  moment  inactive — renewed  without  its  own  agency,  at 
stated  periods,  and  all  conspiring  to  some  common  end,  of  which,  many  are 
obvious  to  human  reason,  and  many  others  are  explained  by  Divine  Revelation; 
one  would  suppose  that  a  survey  of  this  wonderful  system  of  organization  and 
action,  discovering  in  things  without  mind,  proofs  so  undeniable,  of  the  con- 
stant presence  and  exercise  of  the  sublimest  intelligence  and  wisdom,  would 
establish  on  the  firmest  basis  of  reason,  the  conviction  of  a  particular  Provi- 
dence, as  universal  and  as  constant  as  the  great  scene  of  busy  activity,  which 
it  superintends.    But  all  passes  nearly  unnoticed  by  the  mass  of  vulgar  obser- 
vers ;  and  is  often  studied  with  exactness   by  the  philosopher,  with  no  other 
•effect  than  to  remove  God  at  a  greater  distance  from  his  works,  in  his  apprehen- 
sion than  before.      There  is  but  one  rational  account  to  be  given  of  this  fact, 
and  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  give,  when  they  teach  us,  that  man  has  become 
altogether  brutish  in  his  imaginations,  and  does  not  like  to  retain  God  in  his 
thoughts.    To  gratify  this  innate  disgust  of  the  mind  of  apostate  men,  with 
God's  holiness,  most  will  violate  the  first  dictates  of  reason,  and  contradict  the 
most  express  testimony  of  those  very  Scriptures,  which  they  boast  of  believing. 
But  let  me  pray  for  grace  so  far  to  yield  to  the  principal  dictates  of  my  ration- 
al nature,  and  to  fall  in  with  the  plainest  doctrines  of  Divine  Revelation,  as  to 
believe  from  the  heart,  that  "He  who  made,  governs  the  world,"  "working  all 
things,  after  the  counsel  of  his  own  will.'5  But  it  is  not  my  object  here  to  sat- 
isfy my  own,  or  others' doubts  as  to  the  extensiveness  of  God's  dominion  in  the 
natural  world;  but  to  contemplate  some  useful  lessons  of  his  Providence  in  the 
moral,  or  the  laws  by  which  it  operates  in  their  relation  to  the  moral  conduct 
of  men. 

I  ain,in  the  first  place,  far  from  supposing  the  measure  of  justice  to  be  filled, 
or  that  God  intends  to  teach  any  such  lesson,  in  the  rewards  and  punishments 
which  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  human  race  in  this  world.  But  rather  judge  the 
laws  of  God's  moral  Providence  chiefly  adapted  to  the  conservation  of  society, 
of  human  life,  of  moral  virtue,  and  pure  religion;  the  establishment  and  uni- 
versal extension  of  the  Redeemer's  church— and  all  these  objects  considered  in 
relation  to  the  present,  rather  than  a  future  life. 


APPENDIX.  101 

1.  It  appears  to  be  0113  of  the  laws  of  Providence,  that  certain  apparent 
•virtues,  or  practice3  and  duties  which  commend  themselves  to  that  sense  of 
moral  propriety,  which  God  has  implanted  in  the  breasts  of  men,  should  secure 
to  the  possessor  certain  temporal  blessings — fcr  the  most  part  related  to  the 
virtue  which  procures  them. 

Examples.  1.  Filial  piety,  to  use  a  Roman  phrase,  is  thus  connected  with 
length  of  days,  and  domestic  peace.  2.  Moral  justice  in  the  commerce  of 
society,  has  an  established  connexion  with  the  durability  and  permanent  use- 
fulness of  the  gains  acquired  in  the  rigid  exercise  of  this  virtue.  "I  leave  you 
but  little,"  observes  Chief  Justice  Hale,  in  his  letter  of  paternal  counsel  to  his 
children,  "but  it  will  wear  like  iron."  3.  The  exemplary  devotion  of  persons 
high  in  authority,  leaving  the  question  of  their  personal  piety  undetermined, 
is  productive  of  national  blessings.  4.  Blood,  murderously  shed,  by  the  indo- 
lence or  false  compassion  of  those  charged  with  the  execution  of  the  laws,  un- 
avenged, will  sooner  or  later  find  out,  and  send  a  curse  after  all  by  whose  con- 
nivance the  murderer  went  unpunished.  5.  Murder,  and  perhaps  a  few  other 
crimes,  are  destined  to  meet  a  characteristic  retaliation  in  this  world.  God  him- 
self becomes  the  accuser,  often,  and  commissions  the  most  unexpected  provi- 
dences to  expose  the  dark  and  almost  forgotten  deed. — The  fact  is  proverbial: 
David's  adultery  met  a  kindred  and  severe  rebuke  and  penalty  in  the  incest  of 
Absalom. 

These  examples  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  principle  ;  of  which,  I  have  only 
to  remark  further,  that  God  binds  himself-  no  more  to  an  exact  and  unvarying 
uniformity  in  the  laws  of  his  moral  Providence,  than  in  those  of  the  natural  world. 
The  tendency  of  human  conduct  is  meant,  in  this  part  of  the  Divine  economy,  to 
be  strongly  and  unequivocally  indicated.  But  there  are  many  exceptions  to  be 
admitted — lest  men  should  presume  it  unnecessary  and  improbable  that  God 
should  arraign  them  at  a  future  tribunal,  and  there  adjust  his  rewards,  to  the 
scale  of  their  deserts,  without  reference  to  their  sufferings,  or  enjoyments  in 
this  world. 

2.  I  have  long  been  of  opinion  that  the  power  of  habit,  education,  honor, 
friendship,  and  many  other  passions  and  motives,  is  much  stronger,  and  more 
effectual  in  regulating  the  lives  of  men  of  the  world,  than  the  same  principles 
are  in  governing  the  conduct  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  final  end  of  this  law,  is  doubtless,  the  conservation  of  human  society. 
Most  men  having  no  other  than  mere  natural  motives  to  govern  them,  require 
that  these  should  be  sufficient  to  restrain  those  excesses  of  passion  and  vice, 
which  would  sweep  away  the  pillars  of  human  Society.  God  has  accordingly 
so  arranged  it  in  his  Providence.  But  for  the  other  part  of  the  axiom,  that 
these  motives  operate  less  effectually  in  the  disciples  of  Christ,  the  fact  appears 
undeniable  from  their  beingunder  the  guidance  and  promptings  of  an  infinitely 
higher  and  more  efficatious  influence,  the  grace  of  God.  This  carries  them  to 
lengths  of  purity,  to  which  no  inferior  motive  can  ever  reach.  It  does  not  op- 
pose, but  renders  almost  useless  in  a  few  favored  cases,  the  power  of  habit, 


102  APPENDIX. 

education,  and  the  constitutional  virtues,  by  carrying  the  subjects  of  them  en- 
tirely past  the  remotest  goal  which  they  ever  sought,  and  bears  them  along  to 
a  higher  prize  than  nature  and  constitutional  pride  ever  aspired  after.  The 
moon  is  of  admirable  utility  at  night ;  but  when  the  sun  arises,  her  beams  are 
no  longer  perceived,  because  no  longer  necessary.  Now,  out  of  the  use  of  these 
superior  guides  and  helps  of  a  virtuous  and  holy  life,  naturally  grows  the  disuse 
of  those  inferior  kinds,  which  are  in  the  disciple  of  Christ  so  nearly  supersed- 
ed. The  mind  is  divided  between  the  two,  and  loses  the  strong  hold  which  it 
had  of  the  first.  The  mere  worldling  here  has  the  advantage  of  bending  the  un- 
divided force  of  his  nature  to  his  rules  and  principles.  The  man  of  God  is 
sometimes  nearly  suspended  between  the  two,  and  can  avail  himself  of  the  en- 
tire virtue  of  neither.  And  a  rule  occasionally  disused,  cannot  long  preserve 
the  force  of  a  sufficient  safeguard  and  directory. 

This  axiom  teaches  us  a  truth,  which  I  think  is  verified  by  observation. 

Let  the  child  of  God  but  cease  to  receive  succour  from  on  high,  and  be  exposed 
to  temptation,  (if  habit  formed  on  Christian  principles,  and  by  a  long  continued 
Christian  practice,  has  not  yet  regained  its  empire  in  his  constitution,)  he  falls 
an  easier,  and  more  powerless  victim  to  vice,  than  the  mere  man  of  the  world, 
having  the  advantage  of  a  correct  education,  and  upright  habits. 


The  Prophecy  of  Malachi. 
No.  4.— 1824. 


I  have  perused  this  book  with  new  convictions  of  its  Divine  authenticity  : 
There  is  an  argument  for  the  truth  of  these  Scriptures,  which  as  often  as 
I  read  them,  obliges  me  to  feel  and  admit  its  force.     Seldom  has  it  presented 
itself  with  more  force  than  in  looking  over  this  prophecy  aided  by  Scott's  Com- 
mentary. 

If  it  be  not  the  word  of  God,  this  prophecy  is  the  production  of  an  un- 
principled imposter.  But  it  reproves,  with  a  severity,  demonstration,  and  au- 
thority, which  none  but  the  best  of  men  are  able  to  employ,  and  nothing  but 
a  sort  of  Divine  perception  and  love  of  truth  could  sustain,  all  sin — those 
minute  and  specious  ones,  especially,  which  pride,  interest,  and  human  blind- 
ness, would  never  have  discovered.  There  is  a  double  impossibility — 1st.  A 
wicked  man  becomes  the  devout  advocate  of  Divine  Holiness,  and  acts  with- 
out a  motive  in  a  way  opposed  directly  to  every  motive  that  can  operate  on 
his  conduct.  This  is  a  moral  paradox,  which  carries  on  its  face  the  proof  of 
its  absurdity  and  impossibility.  2d.  The  same  man,  besides  acting  against 
all  the  propensions  of  his  nature,  discovers  that  deep  and  universal  science  in 
the  things  of  God,  which  every  impartial  reader  of  this  book  must  admit  can 
never  be  acquired  without  an  ardent  love  of  truth  and  holiness,  and  long 
discipline  of  the  heart  in  piety ;  or  the  direct  and  effectual  inspiration  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 


APPENDIX.  103 

In  this  Scripture,  I  find  the  stamp  of  its  authenticity  further  impressed  by 

1st.  Its  prophecies — 

Of  the  utter  annihilation  of  the  Edonrites,  while  the  Jews  were  promised 
Divine  protection — 

Of  the  termination  of  the  prophetical  succession  under  the  Old  Testament — 

Of  the  speedy  establishment  of  the  Christian  Dispensation — 

Of  the  annunciation  of  this  event  by  the  Precursor  of  Christ,  and — 

Of  the  nature  of  the  Saviour's  mission  and  work. 

2d.  By  the  agreement  of  its  sublime  doctrines  of  purity,  sincerity  and  piety, 
with  the  most  enlightened,  unbiassed,  and  serious  duties  of  conscience — such 
decisions  as  conscience  makes  on  the  same  subjects,  in  the  dying  hour. 
Nothing  short  of  perfect  and  entire  sincerity,  purity,  and  devotion  to  God  is 
tolerated.  The  most  specious  substitutes  for  this  unexceptionable  virtue  which 
human  genius  ever  invented,  or  human  interest,  passion  or  fears  ever  adopted* 
are  here  utterly  exploded,  reproved  and  condemned. 

3d.  By  the  most  strikingly  exact  portraiture  it  affords  of  human  nature,  under 
the  circumstances  in  which  the  Jews  were  at  that  period.  Here  I  must  ad- 
vert to  the  incomparable  superiority  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  to  all  other 
writings,  in  the  truth  and  minuteness  of  its  pictures  of  the  human  character. 
Other  writings  universally  skim  over  the  surface  of  this  most  interesting 
theme  of  investigation,  and  give  us  human  nature,  seldom  with  accuracy,  and 
never  with  a  precision  which  lays  open  the  hidden  springs  of  action,  and  de- 
lineates the  nicer  shades  of  the  soul.  Reverse  this  assertion,  and  apply  it  to 
the  sacred  writings.  Then,  tell  me  how  to  reconcile  the  fact  with  any  other 
position  than  that  of  their  Divine  origin. 

I  do  judge  this  single  trait  of  the  sacred  writings  to  reprove  sin — all  sin — 
simply,  plainly,  authoritatively — as  demonstrative  evidence,  independent  of  any 
other,  of  their  divinity.  Other  writings  reprove  some  vices,  but  not  all  sin. 
They  seldom  reach  the  thing  in  its  proper  and  specific  nature,  at  all.  Other 
writings  reprove  the  faults  of  human  nature,  but  admit  palliating  circum- 
stances, in  extenuation,  which  sin  never  can  deserve.  They  reprove  faults, 
but  on  wrong  and  insufficient  grounds  ;  either  as  degrading  to  the  dignity  of 
men,  injurious  to  their  happiness,  or  to  human  society.  They  reprove,  but  not 
authoritatively.  Their  reproofs  operate,  or  are  intended  to  operate  on  pride, 
self-love,  interest,  or  ambition ;  the  reproofs  of  the  Scriptures,  directly  on 
the  conscience.  THE  SACRED  VOLUME  MUST  BE  TRUE  ! 


The  Social  Affections. 

No.  5.— 1825. 

There  is  an  important  difference,  which  I  think  is  not  sufficiently  observed, 
between  man  considered  as  a  solitary,  and  man  as  a  social  being.  It  was 
strongly  suggested  to  my  thoughts  this  evening,  by  the  remarks  which  Dr* 


104  APPENDIX. 

Reed,  in  his  essay  on  the  "obligation  of  contracts,"  has,  on  that  class  of 
moral  virtues  which  have  their  foundation  in  the  social  properties  of  human 
nature.  How  few  of  the  moral  virtues  are  in  the  power  of  a  solitary  human 
being!  His  vices  it  is  admitted  would  find  an  ampler  range  ;  of  which  his  very 
solitude,  if  voluntary,  would  probably  be  none  of  the  least.  I  never  have 
read  Zimmerman's  wordy  volumes  on  this  subject;  and  know  not  the  view 
which  he  has  taken  of  it;  but  cannot  conceive  how  a  rational  man,  taking  an 
accurate  survey  of  human  nature,  should,  if  not  strangely  biassed  by  interest, 
misanthropy,  or  superstition,  become  the  advocate  of  an  entirely  secluded  life. 
Zimmerman,  no  doubt,  confines  his  commendations,  (for  I  remember  he  deals 
largely  in  the  praises  of  solitude,)  to  temporary  seclusion,  for  the  noblest  of 
all  purposes,  commmunion  with  God,  the  study  of  his  works,  and  the  study  of 
ourselves.  And  these,  I  confess,  are  all  objects,  attainable  no  where  else. 
But  there  are  certain  moial  virtues,  and  a  numerous  class  of  tender,  ennobling 
affections,  capable  of  being  called  into  exercise,  and  reared  to  maturity  by  no 
other  means,  except  the  well  regulated  intercourse  of  society.  The  last  will 
form  the  subject  of  the  following  thoughts  ;  and  I  shall  attempt  not  simply  to 
enumerate,  but  briefly  to  sketch  and  describe  them.  1st.  The  earliest,  and  per- 
haps the  last  to  be  eradicated  by  vice  or  disuse,  is  the  filial  sentiment.  It 
grows  out  of  a  sense  of  weakness,  want,  and  dependence  on  our  part,  accom- 
panied with  a  persuasion  of  the  kindness,  munificence,  superiority  and  power 
of  the  parent.  Such  it  is,  in  its  origin.  It  is  a  singularly  pure  and  ennobling 
affection — not  wanting  in  tenderness,  but  tempered  with  veneration,  esteem, 
and  a  conviction  of  superiority.  If  parental  partiality  blinds  the  mind  to  the 
perception  of  the  imperfections  of  a  child,  sure  I  am  that  the  illusion  is  mu- 
tual. A  virtuous  child,  even  if  he  suspects  his  parent  to  have  weaknesses,  or 
faults,  dares  not  lift  the  mantle  which  filial  affection  has  thrown  over  him,  and 
minutely  scrutinize  them.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  the  property  of  this  same 
affection,  to  magnify  any  real  or  imagined  excellence  of  a  parent — not  only  in 
the  immature  period  of  childhood,  but  down  to  the  end  of  life.  Even  if  it 
should  suspect  itself  to  err  in  this  estimate  of  a  parent's  character,  filial  piety 
would  hardly  submit  to  the  correction  of  an  error  so  ungrateful.  The  filial  sen- 
timent commonly  admits  of  a  slight  modification,  as  the  father  or  the  mother 
is  its  object.  Towards  the  former,  there  is  a  greater  prevalence  of  profound 
esteem — towards  the  latter  it  carries  in  it  more  of  ineffable  tenderness.  A 
pious  son  feels  for  his  father,  a  composed,  steady,  and  exalted  a.fiection,  in 
which  gratitude  and  respect  are  paid  from  principle,  and  which  is  attended  with 
the  sanction  of  the  judgment:  but  for  the  mother,  the  sentiment  rises  to  a  lively 
passion,  does  not  consult  the  judgment  nor  care  for  any  measure  or  rule  in  its 
overflowings.  It  is  altogether  a  matter  of  sensation  here  :  she  is  my  mother ! 
my  dear  mother  !  cries  the  bounding  heart,  no  longer  master  of  its  own  emo- 
tions, and  dissolves  in  a  flood  of  tenderness,  gratitude  and  love. 

If  I  were  to  hazard  an  opinion  as  to  the  comparative  strength  of  these  dif- 
ferent varieties  of  the  same  social  affection,  I  should  say  that  the  affection  felt 


MJIX. 


105 


ibr  a  mother,  would  prompt  to  the  greatest  sacrifices,  in  a  moment  of  trial ; 
while  that  for  the  father,  exerts  the  steadiest  and  of  course  the  most  impor- 
tant influence  on  the  tenor  of  one's  life  and  character. 

My  af  iection  for  my  mother  would  prompt  me  soonest,  and  probably  without 
reflection,  to  offer  my  last  shilling  to  supply  her  necessities.  My  regard  for 
my  father  would  most  effectually  restrain  me  from  a  dishonorable  action. 

2.  The  fraternal  aifection  is  not  without  its  tenderness,  and  a  mixture  of 
blending  esteem  and  partiality ;  but  it  has   in  it  less  of  each  than  the  love 
towards  parents.    It  is  less  profound — less  operative — and  more  easily  dis- 
gusted and  alienated.    Towards  my  senior  brother,  I  howrever,  have  a  senti- 
ment of  consideration  and  of  esteem,  resembling  in  its  measure,  my  affection 
for  my  father :    towards  my  junior,  in  the  same  relation  I  have  a  sort  of 
parental  tenderness  ;  but  towards  them  all  a  tender  and  steady  friendship.     I 
certainly  would  sacrifice  my  own  comfort  in  life,  to  secure  that  of  my  parents, 
if  the  price  was  required. 

3.  I  have  already  alluded  to  that  variety  of  the  social  affection  which  is  not 
necessarily  founded  on  the  relation  of  consanguinity;  but  which  forms  the 
so  much  celebrated  tie  of  friendship.    Its  first  effect  is  to  cement  an  union 
of  interest  and  happiness,  reducing  both,  if  not  quite  to  an  identity,  yet  al- 
most to  a  common  stock. 


Punishment  of  Murder  by  Death. 
%  No.  6.— 1823. 

Reasons  in  favor  of  the  practice  : 

1.  Nothing  less  is  judged  by  natural  reason  and  conscience,  an  adequate 
punishment  for  the  crime. 

2.  God  commanded  this  punishment  of  the  crime,  to  Noah.    This  command 
is  certainly  among  those  which  our  Saviour  says,  are  in  force  now,  because 
they  were  so  "from  the  beginning ;"  i.  e.,  in  the  ages  prior  to  Moses.    These 
commands  "  cannot  be  disannulled  by  the  law,  which  came"  many  "  years 
afterwards." 

3.  The  same   command  was  renewed  in  the  establishment  .of  the  judicial 
code  of  the  Jews.    Now,  the  judicial  precepts  of  the  law  of  Moses,  were 
few  of  them  typical.    Many  are  applicable,  and  some  even  necessary  to  all 
social  communities.    Now  to  prove  them  no  longer  in  force,  it  must  be  shown 
that  they  were  wholly  typical,  and  that  their  prototype  was  presented  at  the 
Christian  era;  or  that  they  were  manifestly  unfit  for  any  other  people  except 
the  Jews.    Neither  of  these  positions  can  be  demonstrated.    The  law  is  then 
in  force. 

4.  Civil  Government,  as  distinct  from  Ecclesiastical,  is  recognized  in  the 
Now  Testament.     Consequently  the  laws,  as  the  objects  of  each,  must  be  dis- 

o 


106  APPENDIX. 

tinct  frorn  those  of  the  other.  The  command  to  punish  murder  with  death, 
was  one  addressed  to  Civil  Governors.  It  has  never,  as  addressed  to  them, 
been  revoked. 

Civil  Government,  armed  with  extensive  and  formidable  power,  was  estab- 
lished by  command  of  God  himself,  among  the  Jews.  St.  Paul  also  asserts  it, 
as  existing  among  the  heathen  nations,  an  ordinance  of  God,  appointed  for 
the  promotion  of  moral  virtue  and  the  punishment  of  crimes  ;  and  commands 
Christians  to  reverence  it  as  such.  Now  all  Civil  Governments  in  that  age, 
punished  murder  with  death. 

The  objections  are  : 

1st.  That  the  command  to  Noah  was  temporary — No  proof  of  it. 

2d.  That  witnessing  capital  punishments,  hardens  the  heart  and  thus  multi- 
plies capital  crimes. 

Answer.  The  distinction  between  the  physical  and  moral  effect,  or  the  effect 
on  the  nerves,  and  the  principles  of  the  heart,  of  witnessing,  &c.,  is  not  re- 
garded in  this  argument.  That  a  man  accustomed  to  the  spectacle  of  public 
executions,  witnesses  them  with  less  nervous  agitation  than  one  less  accus- 
tomed, is  notdoubted;  but  that  the  awful  solemnities  of  such  a  scene  necessarily 
corrupt  the  principles  of  the  heart,  and  impair  the  vigor  of  the  conscience, 
has  never  been  proved.  Nor  can  it  be.  As  well  may  it  be  said  that  the  Sur- 
geon, who  from  long  practice,  can  use  the  knife  with  a  steady  hand,  must  ne- 
cessarily have  contracted  such  a  malignity  of  disposition,  as  to  be  inclined  to 
maim  and  mutilate  every  man  he  meets. 

It  is  objected, 

Sdly.  That  the  universal  forgiveness,  and  the  non-resistance  of  evil  inculca- 
ted by  our  Saviour,  are  fully  opposed  to  the  infliction  of  deaUji  on  capital  of- 
fenders. But  this  argument  lies  equally  against  the  slightest  punishment,  and 
every  possible  restraint  put  on  offenders.  It  proves  too  much,  and  i3  good  for 
nothing  to  the  argument.  Further,  let  all  the  ministers  of  public  justice  and 
all  others,  govern  their  feelings  by  the  spirit  of  this  command.  Let  all  indi- 
viduals, acting  as  individuals,  regulate  their  practice  by  it  likewise.  But  fur- 
ther than  this,  neither  Church  nor  State — Ecclesiastical  or  Civil  Government, 
can  go,  without  violating  an  express  mandate  of  the  Almighty.  God  has 
given  to  Civil  Governments  the  sword,  not  to  gratify  the  passions  of  the  in- 
dividuals, into  whose  hands  it  is  given  ;  but  to  minister  justice  among  his  awn 
creatures  according  to  a  measure  ascertained  by  himself.  Let  them  look  to  it 
how  they  execute  their  solemn  trust. 

The  great  error  of  most  who  employ  argument  against  capital  punishments, 
drawn  from  the  New  Testament,  is  to  confound  under  the  general  head  of  the 
"  Christian  Dispensation,"  the  obvious  distinction  which  w  throughout  thai 
Holy  Volume,  every  where,  either  expressly  or  tacitly  intimated  to  exist  be- 
tween Civil  and  Evangelical  coin  in  unities.  The  church  is  nowhere  said  to 
supersede  civil  society — nor  the  precepts  of  the  one  to  apply  literally  to  all 
the  purpose?  of  government  in  the  other?.  Civil  Government  is  intended  only 


APPENDIX. 


107 


for  the  regulation  of  the  conduct  of  communities  of  the  good  and  bad,  in  the 
present  iil'e.  The  Gospel,  to  govern  the  tempers  of  the  heart,  and  the  spiritual 
society  of  believers,  with  a  principal  reference  to  the  life  to  come. 

When,  therefore,  passages  from  the  New  Testament  are  adduced  as  in  the 
foregoing  argument,  let  the  previous  questions  be  stated  ;  does  the  text  apply 
literally  at  all  ?  If  so,  is  it  addressed  to  the  officers  of  Civil  Government,  act- 
ing only  in  their  official  capacity?  Or  does  it  concern  the  individual,  acting  as 
an  individual?  Or  lastly,  does  it  apply  to  the  Evangelical  community,  in 
other  words,  to  the  Church  of  Christ  in  its  Ecclesiastical  quality  ? 

Observing  this  rule,  we  should  less  frequently  misapply  and  pervert  the 
language  of  Divine  Revelation. 


Religious  Principles  which  I  most  sincerely  and  finiily  hold,  as  the 
Doctrines  of  Divine  Revelation,  and  of  right  Reason. 

No.  7.— 1824.— [Imperfect.] 
FAITH, 

In  its  highest  and  primary  Scriptural  sense,  is  that  qualification  of  the  mind 
effected  by  the  mysterious  operation  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  by  which  it  has 
power  to  see  the  substance,  beauty  and  worth  of  Divine  Truth — to  receive  it 
with  reverence,  affection  and  love,  so  that  it  shall  effectually  control  the  tem- 
per, purposes  and  conduct. 

Faith,  although  distinguishable  from  the  doctrines  of  religion,  revealed  and 
natural,  just  as  taste  is  distinguishable  from  food,  yet  cannot  be  conceived  ca- 
pable of  any  exercise  whatever,  except  by  the  medium,  of  Divine  Truth. — 
Faith,  if  it  ever  exists  in  the  soul  without  the  presence  of  Divine  Truth,  must 
be  identified  with  that  state  of  the  mind  in  which  simple  regeneration  leaves 
it  before  it  has  had  opportunity  of  exerting  its  renovated  affections.  I  do  not 
here  say  either,  that  faith  or  the  regenerated  affections  ever  do  remain  in  a  dor- 
mant state.  But  the  supposition  is  made  for  the  sake  of  distinguishing  and  more 
clearly  setting  forth  the  true  nature  of  the  former. 

Remark  1.  Faith,  being  the  fruit  of  a  Divine  operation  on  the  mind,  may,  if 
God  please,  dwell  in  persons,  who  have  no  knowledge  of  any  Divine  Truths, 
but  such  as  are  derived  from  natural  sources  :  but 

Remark  2.  As  there  is  such  an  intimate  connexion  between  true  faith  and 
Divine  Truth  of  the  holiest  and  sublimest  nature,  we  must  naturally  conclude, 
with  the  direct  testimony  of  Scripture,  and  observation,  that  very  few  who 
have  not  the  Gospel,  possess  faith ;  and  that  fewer  still  of  this  part  of  mankind, 
bring  much  of  its  fruits  to  maturity. 

Remark  3.  As  infants  cannot  exercise  faith  in  distinctTand  visible  acts,  there 


APPENDIX. 

iving  they  arc  nut  curable  of  fiiilh  ;  and  still,  as  it 

is  a  qr:  urc.  they  may  h;r.  e  all  that 

..My  be  qualified,  on  Scripture  grounds. 

.  If  it  be  inquired,  how  faith  diners  from  that  conviction  and  be- 
lief of  the  truths  of  Christinity,  which  a  merely  studious  and  virtuous  man 
comes  to  acquire,  after  attentively  and  lairly  weighing  its  evidences,  and  tracing 
its  consistency  and  harmony, considered  as  a  system  of  doctrines?  I  answer, 
much  in  the  same  way,  that  renovated  affections  dili'er  irom  discoveries  in 
science :  i.  e.,  as  to  the  nature  of  the  two  things.  The  one  is  merely  a  natural, 
the  other  a  spiritual  operation  of  the  mind.  The  first  is  re :> 
just  as  thinking  is  related  to  the  study  of  philosophy — or  as  breathing  to  a 
healthy  state  of  the  body.  The  study  of  philosophy  always  includes  thinking  ; 
but  thinking  by  no  means  necessarily  includes  the  study  of  philosophy.  A 
healthy  body  always  breathes,  but  breathing  does  not  always  prove  the  body 
to  be  in  health.  Faith  in  its  proper  exercise,  always  includes  a  belief  of  the 
truth  ;  but  a  belief  of  the  truth  by  no  means  necessarily  amounts  to  true  faith. 
To  particularize : 

This  conviction  may  take  place  in  the  mind,  where  there  is  no  mysterious 
and  supernatural  operation  of  Divine  power;  faith  cannot. 

Religious  truth  can  be  most  implicitly  believed,  where  there  is  no  perception 
of  its  true  Divine  beauty  and  excellency  :  faith  always  carries  with  it,  wLui 
in  exercise,  this  perception. 

Divine  truth  may  be  most  freely  assented  to,  with  only  that  cold  approba- 
tion of  the  mind,  incident  to  the  discovery  and  reception  of  the  truths  oi' 
history  and  science  :  faith  carries  with  it  a  reverence,  affection  and  love  for  the 
Divine  doctrines  which  it  embraces.  Finally, 

Faith  effectually  controls  the  temper  and  conduct;  or  rather,  where  this 
grace  exists,  such  is  the  impression  of  truth,  on  the  mind,  as  to  produce  this 
fruit,  and  consequence.  But  the  simple  belief  of  Christianity  and  its  doc- 
trines, sometimes  has  no  perceptible  eilect  to  meliorate  the  internal  disposi- 
tions of  the  mind,  or  to  regulate  the  external  conduct.  And  where  it  seems  to 
answer  these  ends,  it  does  not  effect  them  thoroughly,  but  superficially  aiid  im- 
perfectly. 


THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  MAX. 

Theologically  considered,  presents  him  to  our  view,  as  a  moral  and  a  phy- 
sical being.  These  constituent  parts  of  his  nature,  are  not  actually  separable, 
but  easily  capable  of  being  separately  conceived  of.  Man's  natural  endowments 
are,  1st.  His  animal  frame,  and  all  the  appetites  and  affections  which  are  pro- 
perly and  exclusively  inherent  in  it ;  and  2dly.  The  understanding  or  mind, 
'-red  so  far  forth  as  it?  operation?  are  limited  to  the  acts  of  percr 


109 

judging,  re  .  and  willing — or  when  the  objects  of  these 

intellectual  exertions  ure  wholly  of  a  iritural  land. 

The  moral  nature  of  man  is  that  part  of  his  constitution,  which  is  limited 
in  its  exercises  to  some  exhibition,  either  direct  or  indirect,  of  God  himsolt. 
Now  God  can  be  exhibited  to  mortals,  only  by  his  attributes,  authority,  pro- 
vidences, and  works.  The  moral  part  of  man's  nature  is  that  which  is  excited 
to  affection  or  disgust,  by  every  distinct  exhibition  of  God,  through  any  or  all 
of  these  media.  It  is  wholly  intellectual,  but  clearly  discriminate  from  the 
mere  natural  powers  and  actings  of  the  mind.  It  is  true  that  the  mind  may 
exert  itself  both  naturally  and  morally  on  the  same  objects,  and  as  far  as  1 
know,  attho  same  time,  and  in  one  and  the  same  act.  For  there  are  few  na- 
tural objects,  and  few  truths  of  natural  science,  which  are  riot  in  some  way 
very  closely  connected  with  some  exhibition  of  the  character  or  authority  of 
God.  For  illustration,  present  to  the  mind,  the  historical  fact  of  the  delivery 
of  the  ten  commandments  to  the  Jews.  While  this  fact  is  contemplated  only 
in  its  circumstances,  of  time,  place  and  mode;  and  the  political  consequences 
of  the  reception  of  this  code  by  the  Jews  ;  we  suppose  its  operations  merely 
natural.  But  when  the  mind  comes  to  survey  this  law  as  a  transcript  of  God's 
character,  the  reception  of  it  as  an  act  of  obedience  to  the  authority  of  God, 
and  its  flagrant  violations,  so  often  repeated  by  the  Jewish  nation;  so  that  a 
feeling,  affection  or  sentiment  arises  thereupon  in  the  "breast,  it  has  put  forth  a 
moral  act.  I  will  not  say  that  there  is  no  exercise  of  our  moral  nature  where 
the  affection  or  feeling  is  not  distinctly  perceived  by  ourselves.  God  perceives 
many  an  exercise  and  emotion  of  our  spirits,  which  are  neither  remembered, 
nor  noticed  by  ourselves.  And  in  every  exhibition  of  himself,  whether  by  a 
declaration  or  an  instance  of  his  holiness,  or  of  his  authority  over  us,  in  his 
word — or  by  his  works  and  providences — he  sees  a  sentiment  of  approbation, 
and  love,  or  of  aversion  and  disgust  arise  in  our  minds  ;  and  we  are  often  con- 
scious of  the  same,  ourselves.  God  has  interwoven  throughout  all  his  works, 
the  tokens  of  his  presence  and  attributes.  So  that  the  moral  powers  of  man 
are  doubtless  as  often  excited  to  action  as  his  natural. 

Whatever  truths  are  divine,  sui  generis,  or,  of  their  own  nature  relate  to  the 
holiness,  and  the  rights  of  God,  are  those  which,  however  they  may  engage  the 
natural  faculties  of  our  minds,  are  the  peculiar  objects  of  the  moral  part  of  our 
constitution. 

There  are  many  virtues,  and  pleasing  qualities,  in  common  language  termed 
moral,  possessed  by  man— which  I  conceive  to  be  strictly  social,  and  natural;  as 
a  disposition  to  do  justice  ;  to  pity  and  relieve  the  miserable  ;  to  exercise  kind- 
ness and  tenderness  to  relations.  These  qualities  may  have  place,  where  "God 
is  not  in  all  the  thoughts."  In  order  to  render  them  moral,  theologically,  they 
must  be  made  to  be  the  fruits  of  submission  to  Divine  authority,  and  of  Divine 
love. 


110  APPENDIX. 


MAN'S  APOSTACY,  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

The  latter  extends  to  his  whole  nature,  but  so  as  to  reach  the  physical, 
through  the  moral  part  of  his  constitution.  The  effect  of  the  apostacy  on  his 
moral  nature,  is,  wholly  to  deprave  and  pervert  it.  Every  exhibition  of  the 
holiness  of  God  is  painful  to  apostate  man,  in  proportion  to  its  clearness,  and 
evidence.  Every  exertion  of  Divine  authority  over  him  raises  in  his  heart  a 
sentiment  of  rebellion.  Every  moral  virtue  which  he  is  called  upon  to  cherish, 
is  viewed  with  an  invincible  and  spontaneous  disgust.  An  apostate  man,  may 
cultivate  freely,  and  with  pleasure,  the  social  virtues — because  they  do  not  ne- 
cessarily involve  the  consideration  of  God,  or  require  a  holy  temper.  But  he 
cannot  but  feel  either  direct  enmity,  or  a  secret  dissatisfaction,  springing  in  his 
breast,  in  every  view  of  all  that  is  peculiar  and  universal  in  the  character  of  all 
true  believers — of  all  that  is  peculiar  to  the  acceptable  worship  of  God— of  all 
that  is  peculiar  in  the  example  of  Christ,  and  the  morality  of  the  Gospel,  and 
of  all  that  is  peculiar  in  the  doctrines  and  conditions  of  salvation.  This  is  as 
clear  a  definition  of  what  I  understand,  when  I  employ  the  phrase  of  "Total  de- 
pravity^" in  relation  to  man's  apostate  character  as  I  can  make  out.  It  is  the 
utter  aversion  of  his  moral  nature  from  God. 

The  effects  of  the  apostacy  on  the  understanding,  must,  by  filling  the  breast 
with  a  war  of  lusts  and  passions,  directing  it  to  unworthy  studies,  and  by  vir- 
tue of  the  Divine  curse,  have  been  extensively  debilitating  and  debasing  to 
the  understanding.  But  this  deterioration  of  the  human  intellect  admits  not 
of  a  more  particular  or  exact  account.  The  fact  is  certain  ;  the  degree  conjec- 
tural. 

The  mortality  of  the  animal  frame  followed  the  apostacy,  as  a  collateral 
consequence,  so  far  as  it  sprung  from  the  Divine  curse  :  and  more  directly,  as 
it  is  gradually  induced  by  vicious  passions  and  practices,  and  by  a  mind  ill  at 
ease  with  itself;  or,  as  it  is  caused  by  the  violence  of  others. 


MAN'S  WILL, 

Has  been  the  subject  of  many  fruitless  speculations.  But  it  appears  notwith- 
standing the  perplexity  in  which  it  has  been  involved  by  tedious  discussions, 
to  be  closely  connected  with  some  of  the  very  highest  of  our  practical  interests. 
Nor  can  I  perceive  that  it  is  more  difficult  to  arrive  at  a  just  knowledge  of  the 
moral  power  of  the  will,  than  of  most  other  practical  subjects. 

Most  of  our  serious  and  digested  confessions  of  faith,  concur  with  Scripture, 
and  experience,  in  declaring  man,  in  his  fallen  and  unrenewed  state,  to  be  ut- 
terly without  the  power  of  repenting  and  turning  to  God,  through  a  defect  and 
perversion  of  the  will.  This  account  of  the  matter  I  most  firmly  believe.  Fall- 
en man,  however  sensible  of  his  guilt,  or  of  his  folly,  or  of  his  danger,  as  an 


APPENDIX.  Ill 

enemy  of  God,  does  not  see  the  beauty  of  holiness — indeed  he  has  a  very  slight 
perception  of  holiness  at  all.  Why,  then,  should  he  choose  it? — Whatever  per- 
ception of  religious  things  he  does  possess,  excites  only  disgust  and  opposition 
in  his  mind.  How  then  can  he  choose  those  very  things  which  he  only  loathes 
and  rejects  ? 

To  remove  these  two  impediments  to  faith  and  conversion,  the  want  of  spiri- 
tual perception,  and  a  holy  taste,  the  Presbyterian  catechism  most  appositely 
refers  to  that  operation  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  whereby  "enlightening  our  minds 
into  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  renewing  our  wills,  He  doth  persuade  and 
enable  us  to  embrace  Christ,  freely  offered  to  us  in  the  gospel."  This  quota- 
tion I  believe  expresses  the  only  way  by  which  men  come  to  repent  effectually, 
and  turn  to  God.  If  so,  the  will,  unrenewed  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  has  not  the 
power  of  effectually  submitting  itself  to  the  law  of  Christ.  And  here  our  in- 
quiries on  this  subject  might  cease,  and  leave  it  precisely  where  the  Scriptures 
do,  but  for  an  objection  often  raised  even  by  serious  and  pious  men. 

"  If, "  say  they, "  our  wills  want  moral  power,  our  actions  must  want  moral 
blame." 

Without  undertaking  a  philosophical  refutation  of  the  sophistry  of  this  ob- 
jection, it  is  here  sufficient  to  remark,  that  its  fallacy  consists,  generally,  in 
attributing  to  the  sinful  perversion  of  the  will,  the  same*  moral  effects,  as  to 
an  absolute  constraint  laid  upon  the  understanding,  or  the  bodily  powers. — 
Thus  stands  the  whole  argument  on  which  the  objection  is  founded  :  an  action 
which  my  will  freely  resists,  but  which  1  am  compelled  to  perform  by  force, 
isnotblamable:  therefore,  bad  actions  which  1  perform,  (or  culpable  omis- 
sions which  I  allow)  with  the  full  consent  of  my  wull,  are  not*blamable,  be- 
cause my  will  is  too  perverse  to  choose  any  other  than  bad  actions.  I  an- 
swer; in  the  first  instance,  you  acted  unwillingly;  in  the  last,  from  choice. 
And  no  sinful  perversion  or  impotency  of  the  will,  excludes  choice  ;  none  con- 
sequently, can  justify  the  breach,  or  neglect,  of  God's  commandments. 

In  proof  of  some  of  these  last  positions,  no  man  was  ever  conscious  of  act- 
ing in  religious  matters  directly  against  his  wishes  ;  but  every  man  who  has 
accurately  examined  the  phenomena  of  his  own  actions,  knows  the  reverse 
to  be  true.  Every  peHon  whose  conscience  is  properly  enlightened,  and  ani- 
mated with  a  due  degree  of  sensibility,  feels  in  his  own  heart,  a  conviction  of 
guilt  for  all  that  he  ever  did  against  God's  law,  even  under  the  most  en- 
slaving circumstances  of  his  depravity.  If  he  suffers  punishment  for  his  sins, 
his  conscience  consents  to  its  justice.  Men  thus  carry  the  refutation  of  the 
foregoing  objection  in  their  own  bosoms,  would  their  pride,  their  passions,  their 
ignorance  of  themselves,  or  their  speculative  errors,  but  let  it  speak. 

But  the  grand  confuting  argument,  is  the  universal  strain  of  crimination  and 
reproof  in  which  God's  word  addresses  itself  to  transgressors  of  every  grade 
of  obduracy.  It  asserts  in  one  breath,  the  enslaved  condition  of  the  sinner's 
will:  and  in  the  next,  commands  him  to  repentance,  and  denounces  the  guilt 
and*  penalty  of  despising  the  command. 


APl'K.NJJLX. 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION, 

By  which  is  meant  the  education  of  a  native-born  Christian  in  the  bosom  of 
a  pure  Church,  is,  by  the  Apostle  represented  to  be  an  invaluable  advantage; 
where  he  states  the  possession  of  the  oracles  of  God  by  the  Jews,  to  be  the 
chief  of  their  privileges. 

Religious  education,  when  effectual  to  salvation,  does  not,  however,  lead  to 
the  attainment  of  this  blessing,  in  the  same  way  in  which  instruction  and  dis- 
cipline conducts  to  the  acquisition  of  any  given  art  or  science;  because  in 
the  latter  case,  no  constitutional  obstacle  is  to  be  overcome  by  means  which 
the  education  and  discipline  do  not  themselves  supply.  In  the  former,  the  de- 
praved constitution  of  the  will  and  affections  must  be  renovated  by  a  power 
which  does  not  reside  necessarily  even  in  the  Divine  word  and  ordinances. — 
And  this  power  is  bound  in  its  operations  by  no  invariable  law  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence. They  are  dispensed  according  to  the  sovereign  counsels  of  the  in- 
comprehensible Deity.  The  great  advantages  of  religious  education,  are 
nevertheless  sufficiently  apparent  in  the  following  particulars  : 

1,  God  has  in  his  w^ord,  established  religious  discipline  and  instruction,  as  the 
ordinary  channel  of  his  grace.    This  is  too  apparent  a  truth  to  have  escaped 
the  observation  of  any  attentive  reader  of  the  sacred  volume.    It  is  an  ordi- 
nance of  his  own  ;  and  even  if  no  natural  connexion  between  the  means  and 
the  benefit  could  be  seen  by  us  ;  we  might  with  safety  and  certainty  confide 
in  the  pledged  faithfulness  of  the  Almighty,  to  honor  his  own  institution. 

2.  But  this  natural  connexion  is  visible.     Suppose  the  change  and  renova- 
tion of  corrupt  human  nature  were  the  effect  of  moral  suasion,  and  carried  on 
by  the  force  of  virtuous  habits.    Now,  however,  Divine  influence  operates  in 
this  great  work,  certain  it  is,  that  it  proceeds  by  these  auxiliary^ means.    Di- 
vine Agency  reigns  over  the  holy  change,  but  all  the  means  which  christain 
discipline  and  doctrine  supply,  are  the  instrument  which  Divine  power  oper- 
ates by.     Salvation  is  the  result  of  faith  and  obedience.    But  faith  can  only 
subsist  through  the  knowledge  of  the  truth ;  and  o^dience   follow  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  command.    But  the  communication  of  Divine  knowledge 
is  the  chief  part  of  a  Christian  education. 


THE  MOST  HOLY  TRINITY, 

Is  a  mode  of  the  Divine  existence,  on  the  truth  of  which  the  whole  struc- 
ture and  tenor  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  seem  to  depend ;  and  which,  by  being  in- 
terwoven with  every  view  of  the  Divine  nature  there  afforded,  with  every  duty 
inculcated,  and  every  hope  and  expectation  of  the  obedient  soul  there  presented 
is  taught  in  the  most  effectual  manner.  Its  Divine  and  mysterous  dignity  is 
not  abated  by  any  one  single,  minute  and  detached  disquisition  of  it  in  any  of 


APPENDIX.  113 

the  sacred  writings.  I  believe  it,  therefore,  as  far  as  I  can  reverence  and  re- 
ceive any  part  of  the  testimony  of  God.  That  I  cannot  comprehend  it,  re- 
commends its  truth  and  glory  the  more  to  my  reason — I  believe  it,  because 
the  Gospel  is  a  "  sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cymbal  without  it."  Take  from 
this  Divine  remedy  for  sin  arid  the  eternal  curse,  a  Divine  Sacrifice,  a  Divine- 
Helper,  a  Divine  Advocate,  a  Divine  Judge,  a  Divine  Sanctifier,  Instructer,  and 
Comforter  ;  and  alas  !  where  is  its  efficacy  ?  Since  I  saw  the  exceeding  sinful- 
ness  of  sin,  its  giant  dominion  in  my  heart,  the  weight  of  the  Divine  curse, 
and  the  infinite  Holiness  of  the  Divine  nature,  I  never  have  doubted  but  my 
salvation  could  only  be  the  mighty  work  of  a  Divine  Redeemer,  Sanctifier  and 
Judge.  But  I  do  not  believe  the  Gospel  to  be  a  cunningly  devised  fable.  I 
believe  it  can  and  will  prove  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  to  all  who  em- 
brace it.  I  therefore  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  the  most  holy  and  undivided 
Trinity,  as  it  is  commonly  set  forth  in  our  creeds  and  confessions  of  faith;  per- 
suaded that  as  I  grow  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  and  fear  of  God,  I  shall 
have  a  still  juster  and  more  extensive  insight  into  this  deepest  of  all  mysteries. 
As  regards  the  Athanasian  Creed,  it  may  have  carried  its  definitions  no  farther 
than  the  Holy  Scriptures  warrant.  But  I  dare  not  say  that  I  am  able  to  com- 
prehend, or  to  adopt  them  all.  They  go  to  define  this  mystery  with  more  pre- 
cision than  seems  to  me  to  appertain  to  human  weakness  and  ignorance.  The 
creed  may  not  be  destitute  of  its  uses  :  and  my  own  blindness  and  dulness  may 
be  a  greater  cause  of  any  objection  I  may  have  to  it,  than  any  thing  presump- 
tuous or  obsure  in  the  formulary  itself. 


A  GOOD  CONSCIENCE 

Depends  principally  on  our  justification  and  acceptance  before  God,  in  Jesus 
Christ.  This  is  the  foundation  on  which  it  must  rest. 

But  it  cannot  be  preserved  without  the  faithful  concurrence  of  our  own  ex- 
ertions with  this  grace.  The  more  a  person's  sphere  and  knowledge  of  duty  is 
extended,  the  more  labor,  self-denial,  and  pains  it  will  cost  him,  to  preserve  a, 
good  conscience.  A  habit  of  self-mortification,  and  submission  to  God's  will, 
does  much,  however,  for  the  advanced  Christian.  He  has  experienced  the 
pleasure  of  obeying ;  and  finds,  perhaps,  less  real  difficulty  in  rendering- 
that  high  degree  of  obedience  necessary,  to  preserve  in  himself  a  good  con- 
science, than  from  the  ignorance  and  weakness  and  inexperience  of  the  youngest 
Christian,  may  be  necessary  to  fulfil  in  him  the  lower  demands  of  a  con- 
science void  of  offence  !  Blessing  of  blessings  !  how  my  soul  envies  to  the- 
most  abject,  outcast  slave,  the  possession  of  thee!  Could  I  purchase  thee  with 
all  I  have,  thou  shouldst  be  the  companion  of  my  pillow  this  night.  Could  I 
earn  thee  by  the  most  servile  daily  drudgery,  could  I  find  thee  among  the 
sweepings  of  the  streets,  could  I  rake  thee  from  the  very  sewers,  thou  shculdst 


114  APPENDIX. 

be  mine.  But  no,  thou  art  the  gift  only  of  the  Father  of  mercies.  Thou  art 
deposited  among  the  Heavenly  treasuries  of  his  grace.  Of  his  free  bounty,  I 
must  expect  it.  Deny  it  not  to  thy  servant,  O  Cod,  for  what  good  will  my 
wretched  existence  do  me  without  it  ? 


THE  SACRAMENTS. 

The  commonly  received  orthodox  expositions  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper,  appear  to  me,  to  set  them  forth  in  a  scriptural  light. 

Baptism  is  the  ordinance  which  initiates  into  the  visible  church  and  kingdom 
of  God ;  and  accompanied  with  the  inward  and  spiritual  grace,  of  which  it  is 
the  sign  and  vehicle,  it  seals  to  the  soul,  its  title  to  the  promises  and  privi- 
leges of  the  gospel.  This  grace  ought  always  to  accompany  the  visible  sign ; 
but  what  means  of  grace  have  not  the  unbelief,  indolence,  and  impenitence  of 
men  rendered,  as  respects  themselves,  nugatory  and  useless  ? 

The  Lord's  Supper  is  a  powerful  and  affecting  remembrancer  of  the  suffer- 
ings and  death  of  our  blessed  Lord. — By  renewing  to  the  believer's  heart,  this 
mysterious  theme  of  grief  and  sorrow — the  grand  consummation  of  our  re- 
demption— it  softens  the  soul  to  a  state  of  penitential  tenderness,  and  prepares 
it  for  the  reception  of  every  spiritual  grace.  This  may  be  said  to  be  the  pre- 
liminary and  natural  design  and  eiTect  of  this  sacrament,  growing  out  of  the 
mode  and  occasion  of  its  original  institution,  and  the  expressive  character  of 
the  symbols  employed  in  it. 

But  the  Scriptures  authorize  a  still  more  important  estimate  of  the  essential 
nature  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  The  Lord's  death  is  not  only  "represented,"  but 
"its  benefits  are  hereby  sealed  and  applied  to  believers."  Far  from  adopting 
the  gross  and  idolatrous  heresy  of  transubstantiation,  I  can  best  utter  my 
real  meaning,  by  saying,  that  the  heavenly  manna,  the  grace  of  sanctification, 
the  spirit  of  Christ,  (synonymous,  but  all  inadequate  expressions,)  are  blended 
and  received  with  the  elements,  to  the  abundant  comfort  and  edification  of  the 
believer. 

An  important  use  of  the  sacraments,  is  to  engage  the  senses  on  the  side  of 
religion ;  that,  by  directly  subserving  the  work  of  inward  purification,  and 
spiritual  comfort,  they  may  the  more  easily  be  brought  into  entire  conformity 
to  the  gospel;  and  instead  of  inlets  to  worldly  seductions,  prove  the  avenues 
to  salutary  and  holy  impressions. 


EARLY  REMINISCENCE. 

I  cannot  remember,  ever  to  have  disbelieved,  or  anxiously  doubted  the 
doctrine  of  the  Triune  nature  of  the  Great  God.    I  first  received  it  as  most 


APPENDIX.  115 

children  having  a  religious  education  do,  from  authority — or  rather  authority 
supported  by  the  Scripture  proofs,  which  were  early  taught  me.  When  fifteen 
years  of  age,  I  had  my  belief  confirmed  by  a  powerful  influence  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  illustrating  and  impressing,  beyond  all  human  power,  the  Divine  de- 
clarations of  Holy  Scripture  respecting  this  doctrine,  on  my  mind. 


THE  SABBATH. 

Why  keep  the  Sabbath?  1st.  Because  God  commands  its  observance.  2d. 
Because,  having  fatigued  myself  through  the  week,  not  only  with  the  labors 
and  cares  of  life,  but  even  the  vain  pursuits  of  worldly  enjoyment,  I  find  in 
the  devout  worship  of  God,  refreshing  rest,  and  positive  pleasure.  What  should 
I  do  to  solace  me  amidst  all  the  trials  and  burthens  of  life,  without  the  holy 
Sabbath  ?  3d.  Because  I  have  future  labors  and  cares  in  expectation,  which 
nothing  will  enable  me  to  encounter  with  decent  fortitude,  and  despatch  with 
dignity,  but  an  inwrought  habit  of  depending  on  the  Lord,  and  the  succors  of 
his  powerful  Spirit — neither  of  which  can  be  acquired  without  a  faithful  appli- 
cation to  him  at  the  times  and  in  the  ways  appointed  by  himself.  If  I  remem- 
ber God's  Sabbaths  to  sanctify  them,  He  will  remember,  to  assist  and  bless  me 
in  the  hour  of  my  necessity.  4th.  Because  I  should  bring  upon  my  conscience 
a  distressing  load  of  guilt,  by  neglecting  to  keep  the  Sabbath.  5th.  Because  I 
am  persuaded  that  a  most  conscientious  and  exclusive  devotion  to  the  duties  of 
the  Sabbath,  is  commonly  followed  by  the  particular  blessing  of  God  on  the 
secular  labors  of  the  week ;  as  on  the  other  hand,  a  neglect  of  Sabbath  duties, 
or  the  profanation  of  the  day,  often  draws  down  a  curse  on  our  worldly  affairs. 
6th.  Because  I  have  a  soul  to  save,  and  a  holy  heaven  to  press  on  to,  by  ac- 
quiring a  love  for,  and  learning  to  delight  in  the  holiest  exercises  of  which  men 
are  capable  in  the  body;  or  to  be  forever  and  inexpressibly  miserable. 

These  are  my  chief  reasons  for  engaging  in  the  work  of  God  to-day,  and 
dismissing,  as  far  as  his  grace  shall  enable  me,  all  worldly  thoughts,  imagi- 
nations, affections,  and  care?,  from  my  mind. — I  would  read  none  but  books 
conducing  to  spiritual  edification — engage  in  no  conversations  not  having  the 
same  tendency — endeavor  to  habituate  the  mind  to  an  intent  application  to 
God,  and  the  things  of  his  kingdom,  and  deal  honestly  with  him  and  my  soul. 
I  would  let  conscience,  moved  by  the  Divine  authority,  govern  me — and  in  the 
language  of  the  holy  prophet,  "seek  not  my  own  pleasure  or  profit,  think  not 
my  own  thoughts,  nor  speak  my  own  words,  but  call  the  Sabbath  a  delight,  and 
the  holy  of  the  Lord,  honorable."  This  is  my  part — The  blessing,  whatever, 
and  how  great,  or  small  soever  it  may  be,  I  leave  with  the  Lord. 

"I  will  sing  with  the  spirit,  and  I  will  sing  with  the  understanding  also." 

"God  is  a  Spirit,  and  those  that  worship  him,  must  worship  him  in  spirit 
and  in  truth." 


116  APPENDIX. 

"Man  is  compounded  of  body  and  spirit,"  most  intimately,  and  to  the  hu- 
man imagination,  perhaps  inseparably  united.  We  may  conceive,  because  we 
have  seen,  bodies  destitute  of  a  soul — but  it  is  beyond  the  power  of  the 
imagination  to  conceive,  of  a  soul  existing  and  operating  without  a  body ; 
because,  however  firmly  we  may  believe  in  its  separate  existence,  it  has  never 
been  presented  to  our  senses  in  this  state.  It  is  the  duty,  and  we  are  most  cer- 
tainly convinced,  the  noblest  exertion  of  the  faculties  of  man,  existing  in  the 
body  of  man,  consisting  of  body  and  soul,  and  in  every  effort  of  the  one, 
in  some  degree  exerting  some  faculty  or  power  of  the  other,  to  worship  God. 
He  is  a  Spirit,  and  requires  spiritual  worship.  But  spiritual  offerings,  if  mad,e 
in  the  flesh,  must  be  accompanied  with  animal  oblations  also.  They  seek,  and 
must  have  for  their  vehicle,  some  of  the  functions  of  the  corporeal  nature.  They 
can  find  expression  in  no  other  way,  but  by  engaging  some  of  the  inferior  facul- 
ties of  the  human  constitution,  to  aid  their  utterance.  Nor  is  it  the  engaging 
of  any  bodily  functions  to  concur  with  the  understanding,  in  the  worship  of 
God,  that  debases  the  offering,  but  the  substitution  of  mere  animal  exertions 
and  affections,  in  their  place.  If  the  offering  consists  wholly  of  these,  there 
is  no  worship.  If  there  is  a  disproportionate  share  of  anxiety,  or  pains  bestow- 
ed upon  these,  and  they  are  suffered,  instead  of  assisting,  to  burthen,  and  over- 
bear the  more  rational  part  of  the  service,  they  debase  it.  But  let  the  sacred 
spark  which  first  lights  the  altar  descend  from  heaven, — let  it,  fed  with  such  ob- 
lations as  God,  as  a  Spirit,  can  accept,  and  as  his  word  requires,  till  a  flame  is 
raised,  and  then  increase,  by  subjecting  to  it  every  thing  which  God  has  not 
declared  absolutely  unclean.  Speech  and  music;  speech  in  nearly  all  its  modi- 
fications, and  music  in  all  the  variety  and  richness  of  its  powers,  may  come  in 
to  aid  the  holy  sacrifice.  Eyes,  feet,  hands;  every  thing  pertaining  to  the 
body — wealth,  possessions,  office,  youth,  beauty  and  learning,  may  unite  to 
honor  the  Holy  King  Eternal,  "Mighty  Maker  of  Heaven  and  earth." — We 
praise  Him,  we  worship  Him,  in  the  secret  recesses  of  the  soul.  From  this 
radiating  point  the  flame  begins  ;  but  it  flashes  forth,  and  seizes  upon  all  sur- 
rounding objects.  It  is  insatiable.  Were  it  otherwise,  could  it  content  itself 
with  a  limited  indulgence? 


DREAMS. 

I  think,  in  regard  to  our  sleeping  reveries,  that  a  mean  ought  to  be  observed 
between  superstition,  and  scepticism.  The  latter  mode  of  treating  this  portion 
of  our  intellectual  operations,  which  not  being  wholly  under  the  guidance  of 
our  will,  must  be  controlled  by  some  higher  power,  is  commonly  either  the  at- 
tendant on,  or  the  cause  of  a  certain  hardness  and  incredulity  of  the  mind  un- 
friendly to  virtuous  impressions.  Impressions  are  certainly  made  on  the  mind 
in  sleep,  which  lead  to  the  most  happy  results.  "A  scene  was  once  represented 
to  mine  in  that  state,  with  remarkable  distinctness,  which  actually  occurred 


APPENDIX. 


117 


two  days  afterwards,  in  its  most  minute  circumstances.  The  best  of  people 
have  often  declared  that  they  have  (in  this  way)  received  premonitory  notices 
of  some  remarkable  trials  or  changes,  which  awaited  them.  I  have  little  to  say 
from  experience,  of  any  such  intimations  ;  but  have  thousands  of  sleeping  re- 
veries from  which  it  is  my  own  fault,  if  I  do  not  deduce  some  valuable  lessons  of 
self-knowledge.  A  man  can  hardly  even  in  sleep,  assent  to  and  take  pleasure 
in  a  criminal  or  dishonest  action,  who  has  a  sufficient  abhorrence  of  similar 
things  when  awake.  Nor  do  I  believe  it  customary  for  irreligious  persons  to  en- 
joy, even  in  a  dream,  the  society  and  exercises  of  serious  Christians,  into 
whose  company  his  roving  thoughts  may  happen  to  transport  him.  I  had  two 
nights  ago  a  somewhat  remarkable,  because  very  impressive  representation 
in  my  sleep  of  the  dying  scene,  of  which  I  was  myself  an  actor  in  person. 
The  awful  solemnity  of  the  impression  still  remains  on  my  faculties;  and  I 
think  has  been  the  happy  means  of  engaging  me  much  more  heartily  than  be- 
fore, in  the  great  preparatory  work  for  so  important  a  change. 


HISTORY  OF  ONE'S  SELF. 

Who  would  write  a  true  history  of  his  own  life  ?— Not  I.    It  were  easy  for 

*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

*  *  and  many  of  their  brethren  of  the  auto-biographic  line,  to  say  many 
things  about  themselves,  and  following  the  order  of  time,  arrange  those  rela- 
tions in  a  connected  history  very  much  resembling  an  honest  and  complete  bi- 
ography. But  let  me  ask  the  judgment  of  a  sensible  man,  whose  long  experi- 
ence of  human  nature  at  large,  and  close  observation  of  its  operation  in  him- 
self, entitle  him  to  reply  to  the  question,  Has  any  one  of  those  biographical 
sketches  the  merit  of  exact  truth  ?  Do  they  not  all  carry  a  coloring  too  flatter- 
ing to  the  subject  of  those  respective  delineations  ? 

Do  they  not  all  omit  the  true  motives  of  many  actions  which  they  record  ? 
or  the  basis  of  some  entire  trait  of  character,  or  line  of  conduct,  which  they 
put  to  their  credit,  whereas,  but  for  such  omissions,  they  would  stand  to  the 
disgrace  of  the  authors  ?  Has  not  «very  scribling  mother's  son  of  them, 
while  penning  his  relation,  recollected  meannesses,  which  as  truly  belong  to 
his  life  and  character,  as  any  fact  or  trait  delineated,  and  which,  if  truly  rela- 
ted, would  have  materially  altered  the  complexion  of  both  ;  but  which  (and 
how  is  such  conduct  honest  in  the  biographer  who  virtually  engages  to  write 
the  truth,  as  far  as  the  essential  characteristics  of  his  subject  are  concerned  ?) 
he  has  been  unprincipled  enough  to  pass  over  altogether. 

The  first  and  most  natural  art  of  distorting  an  auto-biographical  sketch,  is 
by  suppressing  facts.  No  author  pledges  himself  to  his  readers,  to  exhaust  his 
subject.  No  reader  would  be  willing  to  encounter  an  author  who  should  under- 
take to  write  up  to  such  an  intention.  But  every  biographical  author  tacitly 


118  APPENDIX. 

engages  to  omit  no  class  of  facts  which  are  absolutely  needful  to  a  just  exhi- 
bition of  the  character  he  delineates.  But  so  inveterate  is  the  duplicity  of  the 
human  heart,  that  we  have  no  biographical  portraits,  without  this  fault.  Every 
writer  has  some  idea  of  what  the  public  taste  requires,  and  no  one  dares  blend 
in  his  sketches  such  strokes,  (and  in  every  human  character  how  many  such 
there  are  !)  as  will  utterly  disgust  it.  Every  writer  too  has  his  ideal  standard, 
and  exemplar  of  excellence : — and  in  writing  his  own  life,  none  yet  has  had  the 
resolution  to  state  such  facts  as  would  leave  no  portion  of  this  excellence  to  his 
share.  He  may,  from  the  force  of  principle,  be  constrained  to  introduce  into 
the  picture  some  of  the  darker  shades  of  the  original ;  but  never  all.  And 
even  these  blemishes  are  either  varnished,  or  placed  as  a  fril  to  what  he  imag- 
ines entitled  to  commendation.  Many  foibles,  or  vices,  (it  matters  not  which,) 
are  introduced  into  the  earlier  chapters  of  the  treatise,  which  wholly  disap- 
pear in  its  progress.  They  soon  get  reformed;  and  it  is  well  they  are  so.  But 
had  the  writer  set  himself  about  his  impartial  task  at  that  period  of  his  life, 
when  those  faults  made  a  part  of  it,  before  reformation  had  ensued — and  tell 
rne  which  chapter  of  his  book  would  have  contained  the  relation  of  them  ? 
And  does  he  now  expect  to  impose  on  the  credulous  world  the  belief  that 
even  the  sound  reformation  of  his  early  vices  and  errors,  has  not  left  others  at 
least  as  gross,  and  quite  as  degrading  ?  I  put  the  point  in  question,  to  the  sin- 
gle test  of  every  honest  man's  consciousness  and  experience.  Who  ever  saw 
delineated  by  writers  of  this  class,  such  a  character  as  his  own  ?  I  do  not  now 
refer  to  any  of  those  traits  which  may  have  been  the  production  of  his  peculiar 
circumstances.  But  such,  as  judging  from  the  place  they  hold  in  his  own 
character,  must  be  deemed  common  to  human  nature.  He  has  seen  others  act 
and  feel,  as  far  as  he  can  judge,  much  like  himself.  And  what  in  himself  are 
the  sources  of  those  very  actions  and  sentiments  in  which  he  discovers  this 
strong  and  near  resemblance  of  those  of  others  ?  They  are  what  no  author  in 
describing  himself,  ever  wrote;  because  they  admit  of  no  redeeming  counter- 
qualities — and  would  expose  the  pride  of  the  author  to  the  smart  of  a  wound 
which  could  not  be  healed. 


AFRICA.— Qualifications  of  an  dgent  at  Liberia. 

Judging  from  the  universal  economy  of  nature,  we  must  concede  that  every 
man  is  constitutionally  fitted  for  some  one  sphere  of  action,  rather  than  for  any 
other;  and  that  Providence  has  ordained  no  post  of  duty,  without  having  quali- 
fied some  person  to  fill  it.  This  abstract  truism  applied  to  this  Colony,  which 
we  suppose  of  course  to  be  a  lawful  establishment,  leads  directly  to  the  con- 
clusion that  there  exists  somewhere,  and  within  the  Society's  means  of  en- 
gaging his  services,  an  individual  in  all  essential  points  qualified  to  become 
their  Agent  in  Africa. 


APPENDIX.  119 

As  most  of  the  candidates  who  may  offer  ought,  indubitably,  to  be  set  aside, 
I  shall  first  enumerate,  negatively,  in  relation  to  the  general  inquiry,  the  dis- 
qualificatiom  which  amount  to  good  grounds  of  rejection: 

1.  Want  of  sufficient  age.    The  idea  of  youth  is  hardly  compatible  with 
that  of  much  experience.     But  there  is  no  room  here  for  experiments  ;  nor 
for  the  mistakes  of  inexperience.     Either  must  be  of  pernicious  consequence 
to  the  advancement  and  good  government  of  the  Colony.     Add  to  this  obje'c- 
tion  to  a  very  young  man,   the  want  of  the  respect  and  confidence,  which  is 
naturally  conceded  to  age,  both  by  the  old  and  young.    His  measures  would  be 
received  with  distrust ;  the  factious  and  conceited  would  be  forward  to  seek 
after  and  take  exceptions ;  and  the  whole  social  machine,  would  betray  by  its 
retarded  and  irregular  movements,  the  very  extensive  influence  of  this  single 
disqualification  in  the  person  of  the  prime  mover.    A  young  man,  reposing 
great  confidence  in  himself,  would  do  unbounded  mischief  by  his  rashness  ;  and 
if  prudent  and  conscientious,  would  too  much  distrust  his  own  judgment  to 
govern  with  the  necessary  decision  and  vigor. 

2.  Effeminacy — in  other  words,  that  refinement  of  delicacy,  'whether  re- 
lating to  the  taste,  the  sensibility,  personal  habits,  or  the  choice  of  society, 
which  would  render  disgusting  and  intolerable,  even  the  roughest  scenes  of 
privation  and  affliction,  or  the  rudest  forms  of  human  nature,  is  clearly  an  ab- 
solute disqualification  for  this  Agency. 

3.  A  thirst  for  science,  or  a  habit  of  devotion  to  literary  pursuits,  ought  to 
render  suspected  a  candidate's  fitness  for  the  post.     The  evil  to  be  feared  is, 
lest  he  should  alienate  too  much  of  his  time  from  the  appropriate  duties  of 
his  charge.     The  temptations  with  which  such  a  mind,  in  order  to  avoid  this 
failure,  must  struggle,  are  known  only  to  those  whose  misfortune  it  has  been 
to  learn  them  from  experience.     His  mental  faculties,  in  order  to  maintain 
their  natural  tone  and  elevation,  would  constantly  call  for  the  accustomed  ex- 
citement of  study,  and    gratified  curiosity.     His    sober,    every-day   duties, 
would  soon  want  the  interest  necessary  to  convert  upon  them  with  undivided 
force,  the  current  of  his  thoughts.    His  attention  to  them  would  be  coerced 
and  involuntary.    The  attraction  of  his  favorite  pursuits,  would  keep  up  in 
his  mind,  a  constant  impatience  of  all  others.    The  consciousness  of  habit 
would  never  cease  to  accuse  him  secretly  of  a  waste  of  the  time  not  spent  in 
improving  the  mind,  and  pressing  on  to  new  discoveries  and  acquisitions  in 
the  regions  of  literature  and  knowledge.    The  dominion  of  appetite  itself 
could  hardly  amount  to  a  more  absolute  disqualification. 

4.  A  man  of  suspected  integrity  will  prove  a  source  of  perpetual  anxiety 
to  the  Society,  in  a  matter  about  which,  of  all  others,  their  minds  should  be  at 
rest.    An  air  of  mystery  will  mingle  in   all  his  doings ;  and  the  Board  will 
seldom  have  the  satisfaction  to  read  in  his  communications,  the  simple  expres 
sions  of  nature  and  truth — the  first  suggestions  of  an  ingenuous  heart.    Nor 

5.  Must  he  be  a  man  without  points,  and  strong  owes  too,  in  his  character. 
There  is  a  sort  of  negative  character,  to  which  no  positive  faults  can  be  ob- 


120  APPENDIX. 

jected,  because,  among  other  reasons,  those  who  possess  it  have  not  sufficient 
energy  of  character  to  commit  them.  They  show  a  consistent  deportment, 
because  they  have  no  ruling  passion  to  need  the  curb,  or  betray  them  into  ir- 
regularities. These  people  will  do  little  mischief  in  the  world,  perhaps,  and 
still  less  to  restrain  and  prevent  the  mischievous  doings  of  others.  If  not  de- 
ficient in  talents  to  project,  such  a  man  would  utterly  fail  in  the  zeal  and  reso- 
ution  to  carry  into  prompt  effect,  the  often  difficult  and  unpleasant  measures 
of  his  government.  The  true  candidate's  character  is  certainly  drawn  in  high 
relief.  It  may  want  the  exact  symmetry  of  a  perfect  one ;  but  it  does  not 
want  prominence  :  and  among  these  positive  qualifications  will  be  found, 

1.  A  mind  capable  of  grasping,  and  a  heart  of  feeling  the  magnitude  and 
importance  of  the  object.     It  is  no  objection  that  the  imagination  should  even 
be  tinctured  with  a  dash  of  enthusiasm,  and  hope  incline  to  be  a  little  vision- 
ary on  this  subject.     In  a  mind  well  regulated  in  other  respects,  this  W7armth 
of  feeling  will  act  as  a  salutary  and  useful  stimulus.    And  his  situation  and 
duties  will  often  be  so  trying  and  difficult  as  to  put  his  fortitude  and  zeal  to  the 
severest  test,  and  require  even  adventitious  aids.    Besides,  a  mind  capable  of 
enlisting  its  sensibilities  in  behalf  of  such  a  cause,  will  not  soon  be  disgusted 
with  monotony  and  the  plain  practical  nature  of  an  Agent's  duties,  nor  tired  of 
the  solitude  of  his  situation.    His  mind,  like  the  appetite  of  a  temperate  man, 
is  satisfied  with  plain  fare,  and  seeks  after  no  high-flavored  gratifications.    He 
should  be 

2.  A  practical  man.     This  qualification  implies  experience  ;  and  of  course, 
a  sufficiently  advanced  age  to  have  afforded  opportunities  for  experience.     It 
comprehends  also  that  tact,  as  much  perhaps  the  gift  of  nature,  as  the  result  of 
education,  which  some  men  possess,  of  taking  a  thrifty,  business-view  of  every 
subject  which  falls  under  their  notice.    I  have  known  many  individuals  to  ex- 
cel in  a  knowledge  and  capacity  of  this  useful  pragmatical  kind,  who  were 
still  ignorant  and  simple,  even  to  puerility,  on  subjects  removed  but  a  single 
step  beyond  the  limits  of  their  immediate  sphere  of  action.     They  inquire  no 
farther  than  they  have  occasion  to  project,  and  project  with  less  pleasure  and 
avidity,  than  they  execute.    The  character  in  hand  is,  that  of  a  person,  in  fine, 
who  chooses  rather  to  be  busy  than  to  speculate ;  and  who  mingles  by  a  sort 
of  natural  aptitude  in  all  the  busy  scenes  with  which  his  duties  or  situation 
connect  him.    But, 

3.  As  long  as  the  track  of  an  Agent's  duties  continues  unbeaten,  and  actual 
circumstances  are  to  be  weighed  for  his  direction,  in  the  balances  of  judgment, 
it  follows  that  the  Agent  must  possess  a  mind  capable  of  the  most  accurate  ob- 
servations, and  very  nice  discrimination.    It  should  be  able  to  gather  from 
books  the  very  important  aids  which  they  offer  in  almost  every  exigency  of 
his  duty  ;  and  in  order  to  this,  it  should  have  been  previously  formed  to  a  habit 
of  extracting,  arranging,  and  digesting  the  useful  without  confounding  it  with 
the  trash  of  his  authors.   And  a  facility  of  doing  this,  requires  something  like 
a  scholastic  turn  of  mind,  and  very  close  application  of  thought.    Nor 


APPENDIX.  121 

4.  Is  it  unnecessary  for  him  to  be  well  grounded  in  the  rudiments  of  most  of 
the  useful  sciences? 

Without  this  qualification,  it  is  absurd  to  expect  him  to  proceed  with  either 
regularity  or  success,  in  his  inquiries  into  the  various  branches  of  natural 
history,  which  his  duties  require  him  to  cultivate,  or  to  communicate  intelli- 
gibly, the  result  of  those  inquiries  ;  and  nearly  allied  to  this  knowledge,  in 
point  of  utility,  is  a  general  acquaintance  with  the  principles  and  their  appli- 
cation, of  law,  medicine,  divinity,  navigation,  trade,  agriculture,  politics,  and 
manufactures.  Not  a  month  will  elapse,  perhaps,  in  the  year,  in  which  his 
duties  will  not  exact — and  often  largely — on  his  practical  acquaintance  with 
each  of  these  branches. 

5.  He  should  possess  an  easy  and  affable,  but  not  too  familrar  address  : 
the  first  to  render  him  popular,  the  last  to  make  him  respected. 

6.  Nor  are  great  firmness  and  self-command,  dispensable  ingredients  in  the 
character  in  question.    The  two  are  joined  in  one  view,  because  they  can 
hardly  exist  apart. v  A  person  liable  to  paroxysms  of  anger,  and  sudden  trans- 
ports of  passion,  commonly  in  his  cooler  moments,  repents  the  purpose  which 
he  conceived,  and  perhaps  rashly  expressed,  in  a  moment  of  irritation.     A 
man,  in  order  to  govern  others,  must  be  firm;  but  firmness  without  self- govern- 
ment, is  firmness  without  reason — the  very  definition  of  sullenness  and  ob- 
stinacy. 

7.  But  the  conduct  of  an  Agent  should  evince  a  high  degree  of  flexibility, 
without  a  vicious  imbecility  of  character.    Look  at  the  direct  offspring  of 
Divine  Wisdom — the  economy  of  the  [universe.     See  what  calm,  unruffled 
uniformity  of  system  co-exists  with  an  endless  variety  in  the  details  !     Let 
principle,  then,  sit  enthroned  in  iron,  in  your  Agent's  breast,  while  the  inven- 
tive faculty  sends  forth  its  forces  in  every  necessary  direction,  and  under 
every  useful  form.    This  definition  of  a  flexible  character,  is  nearly  identical 
with  a  genius  fertile  of  resources,  freely  availing  itself  on  proper  occasions  of 
them  all.    I  might 

8.  Enlarge  on  the  necessity  of  a  very  uncommon  measure  of  what  is  ex- 
pressively called,  in  the  language  of  Theology,  "  deadness  to  the  world,"  were  it 
not  included  under  the  next  concluding  head  of  piety.    For  what  can  a  man 
do  in  this  humbl  e,  difficult,  and  forlorn  situation,  whose  heart  is  cankering 
with  avarice,  or  burning  with  ambition,  to  shine  in  civilized  society  ?    Ne- 
glect, impatience,  and  indifference,  will  accompany  all  his  sluggish  move- 
ments.   The  chilling  influence  of  his  example  will  extinguish  the  vital 
warmth  of  other  minds ;  and  the  whole  concern  tend  rapidly  to  crumble  and 
drop  asunder,  for  want  of  a  common  point  of  attraction  and  support. 

9.  To  state  all  the  reasons  why  the  Society's  Agent  should  be  a  man  of  re- 
ligion and  piety,  would  be  not  only  to  repeat  nearly  all  the  foregoing  qualifica- 
tions, which  have  their  only  sure  foundation  in  a  devout  heart ;  but  to  enumer- 
ate also  nearly  all  the  fruits  of  genuine  godliness.    For  what  Christian  excel- 
lence would  not,  by  its  direct  exercise,  or  by  way  of  example,  materially 


APPENDIX. 

conduce  to  the  great  ends  not  only  of  government,  but  of  the  establishment 
itself?  And  what  assurance  can  be  afforded  without  it,  of  the  stability  and 
competency  of  any  plausible  set  of  qualifications  whatever  ? 


NOTES  ON  AFRICA,— 1824. 

Thermometer  at  this  hour,  7h.  30  m.  past  6  P.  M.  86  degrees,  cloudy,  accom- 
panied with  thunder  and  lightning.  None  are  greater  deceivers  than  those 
who  confine  the  course  of  the  seasons,  in  any  part  of  the  world,  to  the  limits  of 
any  exact  description.  The  economy  of  nature  will  nowhere,  in  her  meteoro- 
logical operations  endure  such  a  degree  of  constraint,  nor  submit  to  too  mea- 
sured apace.  Writers  on  this,  as  on  all  other  subjects,  love  to  reduce  their  de- 
scriptions to  the  quality  and  precision  of  a  system.  Hence  we  read,  in  so 
many  African  voyagers,  of  a  regular  period  of  incessant  rains ;  commencing 
according  to  some,  in  March  ;  to  others  in  April ;  and  others  still,  in  May,  or 
June,  continuing  'till  September,  October  or  November ;  and  then  terminating 
in  a  season  of  uninterrupted  dry  weather,  of  four,  five,  six  or  seven  months 
continuance.  Others  subdivide  the  long  season,  into  the  foggy,  and  the  clear, 
the  limits  of  each  of  which  they  assign  with  the  same  exactness.  These  sub- 
divisions of  the  seasons  are  still  further  multiplied  by  nearly  every  author  ef  a 
true  description  of  this  coast,  by  an  account  of  the  prevalence  of  the  parching 
harmattan,  or  dry  N.  E.,  wind  from  the  interior.  Now  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  different  seasons  have  conformed  to  all  these  descriptions,  and  veri- 
fied in  particular  instances,  most  of  their  details.  Nor  can  it  be  doubted  that 
accurate  observers,  after  a  long  residence,  or  frequent  visits  to  the  coast,  may 
come  much  nearer  a  true  general  theory  of  the  seasons,  than  I  can  pretend  to 
do.  But  the  truth  requires  that  such  a  theory,  in  order  to  be  generally  appli- 
cable, must  allow  nature  great  latitude  of  variation  ;  much  greater  perhaps, 
than  may  suit  the  views,  or  perhaps  the  scientific  reputation  of  a  precise  and 
systematic  writer. 

In  1822,  the  rains  began  in  March;  became  copious  and  nearly  incessant  in 
May ;  and  were  entirely  suspended,  from  early  in  July,  'till  past  the  middle  of 
August.  This  interval  of  dry  weather,  was  a  season  of  vigorous  vegetation. 
The  atmosphere  was  more  or  less  clouded ;  the  sea- wind  incessant ;  and  the 
thermometer  not  more  than  two,  or  three  degrees  above  its  range  in  the  rainy 
months.  The  rains  having  again  set  in,  the  latter  part  of  August,  continued 
with  few  remissions,  'till  the  early  part  of  November.  Thence  until  the  first 
of  March,  the  serenity  and  uniformity  of  the  dry  season,  were  interrupted  as 
often  as  once  or  twice  weekly,  by  heavy  showers  of  rain,  commonly  at  night, 
and  attended  with  thunder  and  lightning.— From  March  1st,  to  the  early  part 
of  May,  the  sun  was  little  obscured ;  his  rays  insupportably  powerful  to  any 
except  native  constitutions— little  or  no  rain  fell ;  vegetation  faded,  and  nature 


APPENDIX.  123 

seemed  to  droop.  About  the  10th  of  May,  the  periodical  rains  returned,  and 
continued,  with  frequent  remissions  and  not  much  violence,  till  early  in  July. 
Two  months  succeeding  this  period,  afforded  less  rain  than  the  uses  of  vegeta- 
tion required.  September,  October,  and  November  were  again  showery,  but 
did  not  send  us  the  rain  in  torrents,  as  in  the  preceding  year.  Early  in  Decem- 
ber, the  dry  weather  became  settled;  and  has  so  continued  till  the  present 
week.  It  is  the  week  of  the  full  moon,  and  has  been  distinguished  by  frequent 
showers  at  night,  rainy  appearances  during  the  days,  and  considerable  thunder 
and  lightning. 

In  1822,  the  electrical  appearances  of  the  atmosphere,  which  return  on  the 
approach  of  the  dry  season,  were  not  visible  till  the  20th  of  October.  In  1823 
they  commenced  on  the  18th,  perhaps  the  15th,  of  September. 

In  1822,  judging  from  a  general  recollection  of  the  continuance  and  violence 
of  the  rains,  much  more  must  have  fallen  between  March  and  November,  than 
in  the  year  1823. 

I  have  experienced  nothing  which  answers  to  the  current  description  of  the 
harmattan  winds;  hence  they  are  not  an  uniform  incident  of  the  season.  Some- 
time during  the  dry  season,  (I  think  in  the  early  part,)  of  1822-3,  the  colonists 
were  almost  universally  afflicted  with  sore  throat ;  which  in  most  cases  kept 
them  sick  for  a  week.  The  weather  at  this  time  was  cooler  than  usual,  but 
none  of  the  effects  of  increased  dryness  of  the  atmosphere,  are  recollected. 

1.  Between  the  two  periods  of  May  10th,  and  October  10th,  1823,  the  mer- 
cury in  Fahrenheit's  thermometer,  ranged  between  the  74thjand  79th  degrees — 
the  average  about  76  1-2  degrees.    When  the  degree  of  heat  was  so  low  as 
74,  which  it  very  seldom  was,  except  at  night,  our  invalids  (myself  among 
the  number)  uniformly  suffered  such  an  acerbation  of  any  remaining  aguish 
tendencies  of  the  system,  as  to  cause  a  paroxysm  of  fever. 

2.  A  large  tree  situated  on  the  river  bank,  directly  opposite  our  front  win- 
dows, was  observed  in  the  latter  part  of  September,  (1823,)  gradually  to  lose 
the  verdure  of  its  very  ample  foliage,  for  a  pale  yellow.     This  color  gradually 
degenerated  into  a  pallid  red ;  and  this  last  was  rapidly  succeeded  by  an  in- 
tenser  green,  than  the  tree  had  previously,  for  a  length  of  time,  exhibited — 
amidst  these  phenomena,  I  could  not  perceive  that  the  tree  parted  with  a 
single  tuft  of  its  leaves. 

3.  Ligneous  plants  of  the  palm  species,  abound  in  the  country.    Such  are 
the  bamboo,  the  plantain,  and  banana  trees — the  papaw,  the  cassada,  sugar- 
cane, Indian  corn,  and  a  variety  of  useless  shrubbery,  of  which  most  have  a 
rapid  growth,  and  several  are  distinguished  by  a  canopied  top.    The  forma- 
tion of  this  last  peculiarity  is  thus  accounted  for :  after  the  stem  has  risen  a 
moderate  distance  above  the  ground,  it  is  encased  by  hard,  and  often  a  silicious 
rind.    The  pith,  or  whole  of  the  succulent  substance  enclosed,  may  be  viewed 
as  a  bed,  or  substratum  of  vegetable  soil,  from  which  shoo'ts  would  issue  with 
great  vigor,  if  not  mechanically  restrained  by 'the  hard  cortex.    Towards  the 
top  of  the  stem,  the  rind  not  having  outgrown  the  pulpy  stage,  admits  the. 


124  APPENDIX. 

shoots  to  protrude  ;  and  the  vegetative  energies  of  the  whole  trunk  thus  ac- 
quiring a  scope,  send  out  these  germinations  with  wonderful  vigor  and  ra* 
pidity,  in  the  form  of  horizontal  branches.  Each  of  these  branches  may 
be  considered  as  another  miniature  stem  ;  and  on  the  principle  just  explained, 
carries  its  foliage  in  a  tuft  at  its  very  extremity. 

As  the  general  trunk  shoots  upwards — that  part  of  it  which  served  for  the 
ground  of  the  crop  of  branches  just  described,  acquires  the  indurated  rind  in 
its  turn :  and  by  thus  withholding  from  them  the  requisite  nourishment, 
causes  them  to  shrivel  and  drop  off;  and  while  this  process  is  going  on, 
another  tuft  of  branches  are  sending  out  of  the  superior  part  of  the  stem. 
The  effect  is,  that  the  tree  always  presents  a  tuft  of  foliage  at  top,  such  as  has 
been  described,  with  a  straight,  often  a  slender  stem,  of  nearly  uniform  size, 
and  entirely  destitute  of  branches. 

4.  Most  of  the  fruits  of  Africa,  hang  from  stems  of  only  sufficient  length 
to  contain  them,  which  put  out  directly  from  the  main  stem  of  the  tree.     Of 
these,  some  spring  from  that  part  of  the  trunk  which  serves  as  the  substratum 
of  the  branches,  and  make  a  part  of  the  tuft.     But  many  species  put  out  the 
fruit  stems  all  along  the  trunk  from  near  the  ground  to  within  a  short  distance 
of  the  top,  but  never  so  high  as  the  branches.    Two  trees  of  this  sort  I  dis- 
covered, but  have  nowhere  seen  described.    The  first  had  a  fruit  of  the  size, 
and  much  resembling  the  form,  of  the  plum,  excepting  a  pulpy  instead  of  the 
petreous  kernel  in  the  centre.    The  taste  is  insipid,  but  not  disagreeable. 
The  other  is  one  of  the  finest  fruits  of  Africa.    It  resembles  in  appearance 
the  red  cherry,  but  is  one  size  less,  and  has  a  pulpy  kernel.  The  taste  is  simi- 
lar to  that  of  the  American  cranberry  ;  but  the  taste  is  of  a  milder  character, 
and  tempered  with  an  aroma  not  entirely  dissimilar  to  that  of  the  black  cherry. 

5.  All  the  trees  of  this  coast  are  evergreens.    I  believe,  they  commonly  de- 
posite  their  leaves  annually,  but  never  entirely  dismiss  a  former  growth,  till 
the  new  has  in  a  great  measure  taken  its  place.    Hence,  and  probably  from 
the  different  seasons  in  which  the  various  species  renew  their  foliage,  the 
forests  never  exhibit  a  leafless  or  even  unverdant  appearance. 

A  pullom  of  eighteen  inches  diameter,  which  was  left  to  grow  in  front  of 
the  government  house,  cast  its  entire  investment  of  leaves  in  April.  Before 
the  10th  of  May,  it  was  beautifully  re-arrayed.  A  flight  of  rice  birds  took 
possession  of  the  upper  half  of  the  top,  and  filled  it  with  their  nests,  at  least 
three  hundred,  in  June.  Before  the  1st  of  August,  they  had  cut  off  every 
leaf  from  the  part  of  the  tree  in  their  occupancy,  in  order  to, procure  them- 
selves free  access  and  egress  to  and  from  their  nests.  About  the  middle  of 
October,  these  leafless  boughs  began  to  repair  the  damage  they  had  suffered, 
which  they  would  have  effected,  but  for  the  mischievous  industry  of  their 
little  depredators.  The  tree  is,  at  this  time,  (October  24,  1823,)  nearly 
as  bare  at  the  top  as  ever.  The  lower  branches  have  not  been  visited  by  the 
birds,  and  have  now  a  thrifty  and  verdant  covering  remaining  of  the  June 
crop  of  Jeaves. 


APPENDIX.  125 

6.  Radishes  sown  in  the  latter  part  of  June,  and  lettuce,  in  the  month  of 
July,  are  now  in  the  fresh  pod.    The  red  snap  bean  planted  with  the  radishes, 
ripened  on  the  1st  of  October;  and  the  Chili  (pole)  bean  of  the  same  plant- 
ing, began  to  show  a  few  brown  pods  about  the  middle. 

7.  Cucumbers  planted  early  in  August,  grew  flourishingly  'till  the  middle  of 
August,  and  then  put  out  abundance  of  blossoms;  but  the  vines  directly 
afterwards   began  to  decay,  and  were  thrown  out  of  the  garden  in  a  week 
afterwards.    But  possibly,   some  accident  destroyed  them,  as  they  grew  in  a 
dangerous  vicinity  to  the  kitchen. 

8.  Sweet  potatoes  set  the  latter  part  of  June,  and  yams  planted  the  1st  of 
August,  are  now  in  a  very  flourishing  way. 

1.  The  carcase  of  a  Serpent,  (said  to  measure  thirty  feet,  and  to  be  of  the 
Boa  Constrictor  species,)  was  discovered  on  a  height  of  rocks,  quite  at  the 
extremity  of  the  Cape.     It  was  recently  dead. 

2.  The  Cape  was  travelled  round  near  the  beach,  the  first  of  October,  1823. 
Many  springs  and  small  streams  of  water  were  discovered,  issuing  out  of  the 
superior  parts  of  the  promontory,  and  often  rushing  down  its  sides,  in  abrupt 
cascades.  Many  of  these,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  are  perennial ;  and  some  of 
them  produced  by  the  prevailing  rains,  and  which  will  not  survive  them.    . 

As  far  as  I  can  learn,  the  water  is  perfectly  sweet. 

3.  Paper,  after  having  been  a  few  months  in  the  Colony,  so  far  loses  one  of 
its  most  important  qualities,  as  to  spread  the  ink,  laid  upon  it  with  the  most 
delicate  hand,  into  an  almost  continuous  blot.    Notice,  an  example  !     On  pa- 
per of  a  particular  texture,  the  lines,  without  spreading  into  a  blot,  in  a  few 
weeks  strike  through  the  paper;  probably  by  the  corrosive  property  of  the  ink 
acting  upon  the  dissolved  and  unresisting  texture  of  the  paper.  Writing  done 
in  wet  weather  spreads  the  w,orst. 

4.  Ananas  ripen  three  times  a  year. — The  first  growth  matures  in  June, 
and  continues  till  August.  The  second  in  November,  and  continues  till  late  in 
December.    The  third  ripens  about  February,  and  remains  through  a  part  of 
the  month  of  March. 

5.  Lunar  influence  is  very  conspicuous  in  this  country.  When  the  dry  sea- 
son is  actually  begun,  a  full  moon  often  brings  heavy  rains  for  several  days ; 
and  always  increases  their  violence  during  the  wet  season.    Commonly  the 
highest,  or  spring  tides,  have  occurred  two  days  after  the  full ;  and  at  this  time 
the  worst  surf  prevails. 

6.  Dress,  proper  for  Americans  in  Africa. — It  certainly  ought  to  be  light. 
But  owing  to  the  copious  perspiration,  produced  by  the  solar  heat  in  the  dry 
season,  and  the  heavy  and  clammy  sweats  of  the  wet,  caused  by  the  saturated 
atmosphere  ;  I  think  that  cotton  ought  to  be  worn  next  the  skin,  0*1  account 
of  its  absorbent  quality.      Flannel,  I  have  found  inconvenient,  for  two  reasons. 
The  one  is,  that  it  increases  the  heat  of  the  body,  by  retaining  the  transient  ca- 
loric. The  other,  that  once  thoroughly  wet,  it  hardly  becomes  entirely  dry,  un- 
til thrown  off.— My  present  dress,  which  I  find  perfectly  convenient,  is  a  calico 


126  APPENDIX. 

shirt,  and  cotton  drawers  and  stockings,  a  thin  coat,  jacket,  or  gown,  a  cloth 
waistcoat,  thin  pantaloons,  a  black  silk  cravat,  and  unlined  straw-hat,  with  a 
broad  brim. 

In  the  dry  season,  except  early  in  the  morning,  or  late  in  the  evening,  no 
change  in  this  dress,  except  of  the  thick,  for  a  thin  waistcoat,  will  be  requi- 
site. When  the  thermometer  falls  as  low  as  seventy-four  degrees,  I  find  it  al- 
ways necessary  to  add  a  thick  coat,  or  run  the  risk  of  getting  an  ague. 

7.  For  the  week  past,  I  have  been  affected  with  a  dysenteric  affection  of 
the  bowels. 

The  weather  has  been  humid,  rather  than  dry.  Fahrenheit  at  about  seven- 
ty-eight degrees.  Land  and  sea-breezes  alternately  prevalent.  My  habits 
sedentary,  and  my  food  less  vegetable  than  I  could  desire.  It  is  not  yet  more 
than  a  month  that  I  have  acted  on  the  resolution,  to  eat  meat  but  once  a  day. 
An  indifference,  approaching  to  a  loathing  of  animal  food,  had  taken  place  ; 
and  my  appetite  and  strength  reduced  by  confinement,  constant  study,  and 
the  change  of  regimen. 

July  7th,  1825. 

To-day  commenced  the  excavation  of  the  bank,  directly  above  the  new  pier, 
for  the  new  road  from  the  water-side.  Most  of  the  sick,  decidedly  convales- 
cent—four have  been  employed  the  day  past  in  this  work. 

I  have,  during  the  present  week,  attended,  for  the  first  time,  to  the  general 
definitions  belonging  to  the  beautiful  science  of  ornithology ;  and  from  the  fa- 
cility of  mastering  the  elements  of  the  study,  I  am  surprised  and  chagrined 
that  my  inquiries  have  never  been  directed  that  way  before.  Alas !  what  irre- 
vocable losses  is  he  sure  to  suffer  whose  education  has.  been  cramped  by  the 
want  of  money,  books,  instructers,  or  literary  associates !  This  misfortune  has 
been  mine. 

I  am  at  present  engaged  in  reviewing  my  Botany,  with  a  view  to  the  prac- 
tical application  of  it,  in  the  examination  of  the  vegetables  of  this  country. 

Would  it  not  be  a  most  agreeable  thing  to  form  a  little  herbary,  of  the  rarest 
and  most  interesting  trees  and  plants  of  the  Colony,  in  my  garden.  Let  me 
set  about  it  immediately. 

NOTE.  Lott  Carey  reports  the  discovery  of  a  bank  of  sand,  just  this  side 
of  little  Cape-Mount,  containing  a  visible  mixture  of  gold  particles. 


Among  the  most  striking  proofs  of  the  perpetuity  and  universal  obligation 
of  the  Sabbath,  I  account  the  weekly  divisions  of  time  "marked  in  celestial 
characters,  by  the  four  periods  of  the  Moon's  increase  and  deliquation.  I  do 
not  recollect  ever  to  have  known  an  argument  in  proof  of  that  important 
point,  drawn  from  this  fact. 


APPENDIX.  127 

NOTES  TAKEN  ON  MY  FIRST  VISIT  TO  PETER  BROMLEY'S. 

1825. 

Bromley's  jurisdiction  extends  from  the  ocean  West,  as  far  North  as  the 
second  Salt  Town  above  the  St.  Paul's;  and  thftnc.fi  up  that  river,  comprehend- 
ing all  the  country  on  its  right  hank  as  high  as  the  Dey  settlements  reach  on 
that  side.  King  Willy,  King  Jimmy,  (living  nearly  opposite  the  mouth  of 
Stockton,)  and  an  old  man  by  the  name  of  K.  Peter,  living  high  up,  are  some 
of  Bromley's  head  men. 

Bromley's  town  resembles  most  others  in  its  plan,  and  the  style  of  its  houses. 
Near  the  centre  is  an  open  palaver  house,  having  the  earth  raised  for  the  floor, 
to  the  height  of  a  rail,  two  and  a  half  feet  above  the  common  level.  This 
house  is  twenty-five  feet  long.  Adjoining^  or  in  the  same  central.part  of  the 
town,  is  a  circular  building  kept  for  the  reception  and  entertainment  of  such 
strangers  as  are  considered  respectable.  The  building  in  the  Northern  parts 
of  Africa,  and  in  Asia,  would  be  penned  the  Caravansera.  Its  roof  is  conical, 
and  the  apex  pointed  with  a  sort  of  spire,  which  is  commonly  ornamented, 
and  tufted  or  capped  in  a  fantastical  manner. 

These  two  buildings  are'common  to  the  native  towns.  Another  appendage 
is  commonly  the  tomb  of  some  Patriarch,  or  former  King  of  the  place,  whose 
memory  is  cherished  with  particular  veneration.  The  tomb  is  commonly 
covered  with  a  thatch  roof  house,  plentifully  loaded  with  gregrees  of  every  de- 
scription. Bromley's  father's  bones  are  entombed  in  his  palaver  house. 

A  fourth  appendage  of  most  towns,  is  the  palaver  tree,  near  which  the  pala- 
ver house  is  built ;  but  the  latter  sometimes  answers  the  purpose  of  the  former. 

In  forming  a  town,  the  ground  is  first  cleared,  then  levelled  beautifully  in 
the  manner  of  a  parade.  The  rubbish  is  deposited  in  a  circular  bank  just  with- 
out the  level  area;  and  with  whatever  litter  afterwards  accumulates  forms 
a  rich  bed,  which  is  thickly  planted  with  banana  and  plantain,  and  some- 
times other  fruit  trees.  The  houses  are  disposed  in  no  regular  order,  ex- 
cept that  the  more  important  are  the  most  centrally  situated:  cooks'  houses,  and 
womens'  and  servants'  apartments  occupy  the  skirts.  The  houses  after  being 
plastered,  are  washed  commonly  with  clay,  which  is  sometimes  colored  red 
or  brown.  The  area  is  always  neatly  sanded.  The  houses  are  commonly  of 
a  circular  or  oblong  form,  and  the  latter  covered  with  thatch  roofs  of  the  form 
called  hipped.  There  are  two  kinds  of  leaves  used  in  this  part  of  Africa  for 
thatching — the  bamboo,  and  another  resembling  oak  leaves,  but  of  a  larger  size, 
which,  however  dry,  are  said  to  be  nearly  incapable  of  being  burnt  without 
the  addition  of  other  fuel. 

Kroomen  often  build  without  the  shelter  of  trees,  on  the  bleak  and  barren 
rocks  or  sand  of  the  beach.  But  the  other  tribes,  (their  "  Salt"  and  "Half 
Towns"  excepted,)  never;  but  choose,  where  choice  can  be  had,  a  lofty  and 
nearly  impervious  forest,  in  the  bosom  of  which  they  open  a  spot  of  one  to 
three  acres,  corresponding  to  the  projected  size  of  their  town.  No  planta- 
tions are  ever  suffered  to  be  made  directly  contiguous  to  the  site  of  the  town> 


128  APPENDIX. 

«• 

and  often  are  formed  at  the  distance  of  one  to  three  miles  from  it.  When,  for 
the  convenience  of  the  people  employed  on  these  plantations,  it  becomes  ne- 
cessary to  build  a  dozen  houses  near  them,  they  take  the  name  of  "Half 
Town."  The  ground  is  not  levelled  for  these  towns,  nor  have  they  either 
palaver  house  or  ordinary. 

"  Salt  Towns"  stand  on  some  salt  water,  commonly  the  sea  shore,  and  are 
for  the  accommodation  of  a  few  superannuated  domestics  and  children,  whose 
business  is  to  boil  salt,  for  the  traffic  in  the  interior. 

Banana  and  plantain  stocks  grow,  produce  fruit,  decay,  and  renew  them- 
selves throughout  the  year.  Each  stock  springing  from  an  old  root,  matures 
a  single  racemus  of  fruit,  if  in  the  rainy  season,  in  three  months — a  longer 
time  is  requisite  in  the  dry. 

I  observe  that  the  country  near  Bromley's,  is  cleft  into  a  species  of  islets, 
channels  of  ten  to  twenty  feet  wide,  and  four  to  six  or  eight  deep,  which  are 
dry  one  half  the  year,  and  filled  with  wate^during  the  summer  and  autumnal 
months,  and  which  finally  communicate  with  the  river  St.  Paul's,  intersect- 
ing it  in  all  directions.  The  timber  is  lofty,  and  I  think  of  a  greater  age  than 
that  which  covers  the  country  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river. 


COLONIAL  NOTICES. 
1826. 

AGRICULTURAL. — The  progress  of  agriculture  in  the  Colony,  has  been  al- 
ready stated,  to  be  extremely  slow.  The  causes  which  have  retarded  it,  are 
sufficiently  obvious ;  have  been  more  than  once  enumerated  in  my  communi- 
cations to  the  Board  of  Directors  ;  and  unhappily,  still  continue,  though  with 
diminished  force,  to  operate.  They  are  however,  of  such  a  nature  as  to  ap- 
pear, from  a  simple  recitation,  by  no  means  invincible.  Some  are  merely  ac- 
cidental ;  several  will  be  obviated  by  a  little  more  experience  of  the  peculiari- 
ties of  the  Country;  and  time,  the  growth  of  our  settlements,  and  the  spirited 
exertions  of  the  Patrons  of  the  Colony,  will  remove  the  rest.  I  have  no  fear 
that  so  delicious  and  prolific  a  climate  and  soil  as  those  of  Liberia,  capable  of 
maturing  the  most  desirable  and  the  richest  productions  of  the  earth,  in  an 
abundance  which  in  all  other  countries,  similarly  blessed,  affords  the  tropical 
cultivator  a  source  of  wealth,  should  be  suffered  by  a  population  in  character, 
and  origin  American,  for  any  considerable  length  of  time,  to  remain  idle  and 
unproductive. 

The  languid  efforts  of  the  Colony,  in  this  branch  of  improvement,  are  to  be 
imputed, 

1st.  To  the  insecure  and  disturbed  state  of  the  settlement,  during  the  two 
or  three  years  immediately  following  its  commencement. 

2d.  To  the  very  unpropitious  situation  and  quality  of  the  lands  contiguous 
to  the  first  settlement.  The  uplands  are  rocky,  and  liable  to  the  worst  effects 
of  that  extreme  drought  which  prevails  throughout  one  half  of  the  year.  The 
lowlands  of  the  Cape  are  either  sandy  and  unproductive,  or  alluvial  and  marshy; 


APPENDIX.  129 

subject  to  inundation  during  the  rainy-season;  or  incapable  of  repaying  the 
labor  of  tilling  them.  The  Cape  lands  havi ng  moreover,  from  lime  immemorial 
been  consecrated  by  the  superstition  of  the  natives  of  the  country,  are  every 
where  loaded  with  a  thick  and  lofty  forest,  of  an  ancient  growth ;  and  conse- 
quently, to  be  cleared  only  by  a  slow  and  laborious  process.  The  agriculture 
of  the  Colony  has  been  further  retarded, 

3d.  In  consequence  of  a  majority  of  all  the  Colonists  declining  the  accept- 
ance of  the  lands  assigned  them,  to  so  late  a  period  as  the  latter  part  of  the 
year  1824. 

4th.  In  consequence  of  the  general  poverty  of  the  settlers  ;  the  subsistence 
of  their  families  ;  the  building  of  their  houses,  and  the  necessary  improvement 
of  their  building-lots,  wholly  engrossing  the  means  at  their  disposal  during  the 
two  or  three  earliest  years  of  their  residence  in  the  Colony.  The 

5th  cause  which  has  operated  prejudicially  to  the  fanning  interest,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  facilities,  and  inducement  presented  the  settlers  to  engage  in  a 
small  barter-trade  with  the  natives  of  the  country.  This  trade,  which  is  open 
alike  to  all  who  choose  to  engage  in  it,  and  requiring  them  to  bring  to  it  only 
moderate  funds,  and  as  little  skill,  oilers  the  powerful  temptation  of  an  imme- 
diate, and  certain  profit.  Thinking  less  of  the  future  and  general  welfare  of 
themselves  and  the  Colony,  than  of  present  and  apparent  advantages;  and 
stimulated  with  the  pressure  of  their  immediate  wants,  all,  or  nearly  all  the 
settlers,  have  in  different  degrees,  given  in  to  this  pursuit,  to  the  neglect  of  the 
more  laborious  occupation  of  husbandry.  A  single  fact  will  show  the  very 
seducing  nature  of  this  traffic.  The  demand  for  mechanical  labor,  particularly 
that  of  carpenters,  joiners,  and  masons,  has  always  exceeded  by  more  than 
double,  the  supply.  The  wages  of  these  mechanics  has  consequently  risen  to 
a  rate,  seldom  heard  of  in  the  United  States.  A  most  indifferent  mechanic  has 
been  known  to  reject  a  job  which  promisfd  him,  not  less  than  two  and  a  half 
to  three  dollars  per  diem.  And,  without  a  single  exception,  the  mechanics  of 
the  Colony,  even  the  most  skilful,  have  repeatedly  sacrificed  the  profits  of  their 
proper  business  to  the  precarious  gains  of  this  country  traffic. 

6th.  The  frequent  disappointments  experienced  in  regard  to  our  expected 
supplies  of  seeds  from  America,  has  tended  greatly  to  discourage  the  agricul- 
tural spirit  of  the  people.  Ample  preparations  for  planting,  at  the  proper  sea- 
son of  the  year,  have  been  twice  made,  in  anticipation  of  seeds  promised  to  be 
sent  us  from  abroad,  and  as  often  defeated  either  by  the  failure  of  those  sup- 
plies, or  the  badness  of  the  seeds  on  their  arrival.  By  the  Indian  Chief,  we 
received  not  less  than  three  tierce  of  well  assorted  seeds— but  all  failed. 

7th.  A  large  majority  of  the  settlers  arriving  in  this  country  previous  to  the 
present  year,  are  from  the  large  towns  of  the  United  States,  of  whom  few  un- 
derstand the  business  of  agriculture,  and  fewer  still  from  their  previous  habits 
are  disposed  to  engage  in  it. 

8th.  To  these  unfriendly  circumstances  of  our  population  and  situation,  if 
we  add  that  which  arises  from  the  great  natural  dissimilarity  of  this  country, 

R 


130  APPENDIX. 

in  every  thing  relative  to  its  agriculture,  to  every  part  of  the  United  States, 
from  which  settlers  have  emigrated,  we  shall  feel  no  surprise  in  view  of  the 
little  that  has  yet  been  done  in  this  line  of  improvement ;  nor,  I  trust,  will 
a  just  survey  of  the  past  tend  to  produce  any  discouragement  of  our  hopes  re- 
specting the  agriculture  of  the  Colony,  in  future.  The  present  year  has  indeed 
presented  some  cheering  indications  of  a  growing  attention  to  this  subject,  au- 
thorizing the  hope  that  it  will  soon  come  to  be  regarded,  with  an  interest  more 
commensurate  with  its  importance. 

About  sixty  families  of  country  farmers,  from  the  lowlands  of  North- Caroli- 
na, have  within  that  period  been  placed  on  the  excellent  level  lands  of  the 
St.  Paul's,  and  between  thirty  and  forty  families  in  Monrovia,  have  received  a 
part  of  their  allotment  on  the  equally  fertile  tract  of  the  Half-way  Farms. 
These  settlers,  particularly  the  former,  have  given  already  a  good  proof  of  the 
rapid  progress  they  are  expected  to  make  in  the  reduction  and  culture  of  their 
lands.  These  are  of  a  very  inviting  quality — and  the  habits  of  their  owners 
fit  them  well  for  all  the  rough,  laborious,  an  d  dirty  work,  required  about  new 
plantations.  They  have  never  suffered  from  the  restraint  of  a  town  life  ;  and 
begin  already  in  idea  to  lay  off  their  fields  and  their  acres,  while  their  less 
rustic  neighbors  think  it  enough  to  calculate  the  more  familiar  dimensions  of 
a  town  building-lot,  or  the  width  of  an  alley. 

There  is,  in  my  opinion,  more  merit  than  appears,  on  a  superficial  view,  in 
the  first  experiments  in  agriculture  of  a  people,  situated  like  the  colonists  of 
Liberia.  They  are  too  poor  to  lose  without  serious  inconvenience,  the  labor 
of  an  entire  year.  And  less  time  is  insufficient  to  attest  the  success  of  any 
method  of  tillage,  which  they  may  employ.  They  have  no  example  to  stimu- 
late them.  But  groping  in  the  dark,  a  path  untrod  before  ;  unacquainted  with 
the  means  of  obviating  its  difficulties,  and  uncertain  as  to  the  results  to  which 
it  may  conduct  them — the  few  that  have  persisted,  amidst  so  many  discourage- 
ments, to  the  attainment  even  of  a  partial  measure  of  success  in  their  agricul- 
tural prospects,  cannot  be  thought  wholly  undeserving  of  commendation.  The 
merit  will  hereafter  certainly  be  less,  even  when  the  success  is  greater,  as  few- 
er difficulties  and  discouragements  will  exist  to  be  struggled  with. 

HARRIS  CLARKE,— a  farmer,  from  the  vicinity  cf  Petersburg,  Virginia, 
was  the  first  to  lead  the  way,  in  the  culture  of  garden  vegetables,  on  a  scale 
sufficiently  extensive  to  deserve  particular  notice.  His  first  experiments  were 
made  in  1824,  the  same  year  of  his  arrival  in  Africa,  and  when  suffering  from 
its  climate,  on  a  patch  of  the  Cape  lowlands;  where,  although  the  property  of 
another  person,  he  went  to  the  expense  and  labor  of  clearing  for  the  purpose. 
On  this  spot  he  reared  the  first  vegetables  of  colonial  growth,  ever  brought  into 
our  market ;  and,  though  his  little  plantation  suffered  considerably  from  in- 
sects at  one  season  of  the  year,  and  from  being  overflowed  at  another ;  yet  it 
was  gratifying  to  learn  that  its  little  proceeds,  nearly,  or  quite  repaid  him  for 
all  the  labor  and  pains  which  it  cost  him. 

The  same  individual,  by  renting  an  unoccupied  town-lot,  contiguous  to  his 


APPENDIX.  131 

own,  has  since  been  enabled  to  enlarge  the  sphere  of  his  labor,  by  throwing  both 
into  one — and  has  in  the  two  last  years  made  a  very  profitable  use  of  the  expe- 
rience acquired  in  the  first.  He  now  enjoys  the  praise  of  furnishing  earlier, 
better,  and  a  greater  abundance  of  American  vegetables,  than  any  other  settler. 
It  is  still  more  to  his  credit  that  he  had  sense  enough  from  the  first,  to  see  the 
fallacy  of  those  expectations,  by  which  too  many  are  misled  to  form  temporary 
trading  connexions  with  the  natives,  to  the  neglect  of  the  more  permanent 
and  certain  interests  of  themselves,  their  families,  and  the  Colony.  Mr.  Clarke 
has  a  place  now  for  the  third  successive  year,  at  the  Agricultural  Board  of  the 
Colony. 

The  Rev.  C.  M.  Waring  was  the  first  to  adventure  a  large  and  valuable 
amount  of  labor  and  funds,  in  a  then  novel  experiment  of  an  untried  crop,  in 
African  lands.  In  the  latter  part  of  1824,  before  he  had  completed  his  dwelling- 
house,  he  brought  nearly  the  whole  of  a  plantation  of  ten  acres  under  cultivation, 
at  a  very  great  expense.  Nothing  was  omitted  which  was  judged  necessary  to 
ensure  a  plentiful  return  in  the  harvest  of  the  following  year.  And  a  beautiful 
young  crop  of  Rice,  Cassada,  and  other  vegetables,  seemed  in  the  early  part  of 
the  season,  to  promise  the  accomplishment  of  the  hopes,  which  had  been  exci- 
ted. But  the  first  mentioned  of  these  crops ,  failed  entirely,  from  an  error  in 
the  proper  season  for  planting  lands  of  the  peculiar  quality  on  which  the  ex- 
periment was  made,  and  from  the  myriads  of  ants  which  invaded  and  destroyed 
it,  down  to  the  ground,  in  the  ear.  The  Cassada  underwent  a  similar  fate 
from  the  vermin  swarming  upon  it,  a  few  months  afterwards,  from  the  surround- 
ing wilds.  The  whole  plantation  miscarried.  As  great  advantages  were  antici- 
pated from  so  generous  an  experiment,  in  case  it  had  been  crowned  with  suc- 
cess ;  so  the  failuie  of  it,  could  not  help  increasing  the  general  diffidence  pre- 
viously entertained  of  the  American  system  of  husbandry.  Several  persons 
about  to  follow7  so  bold  an  example  of  farming,  curtailed  at  once  the  extent  of 
their  preparations ;  and  others  deferred  them  for  the  present,  altogether. 

LEWIS  CROOK,  is  next  in  the  order  of  early  adventurers  in  the  culture  of  the. 
staple  grain  of  the  country — rice;  and  unfortunately  for  the  farming  interest 
among  us,  met  with  no  better  success,  except  that  the  scale  of  his  operations 
was  much  narrower  than  Mr.  Waring's.  The  lands  which  he  cultivated,  were 
different  from  his;  elevated,  and  rocky.  But  possessing  a  deep  and  strong  soil, 
they  produced  a  heavy  crop  of  excellent  grain— which  was  invaded  by  no  de- 
stroyer, until  the  first  cutting  had  nearly  matured.  But  the  rice  birds,  and 
monkeys,  seemed  now  bent  on  a  full  indemnity  for  the  respite  with  which  they 
had,  till  this  period,  indulged  the  growing  crop.  Nor  without  several  vigi- 
lant sentinels  posted  by  day  and  night,  in  different  parts  of  the  field,  was  it 
possible  to  preserve  it.  The  industrious  proprietor  was  unable  to  save  enough 
rice  to  replace  his  seed.  This  happened  in  1825. 

On  the  same  kind  of  land,  and  in  the  same  year,  the  Rev.  Lott  Cary  lost  a 
promising  crop  of  rice  under  similar  circumstances.  The  principal  experi- 
ments of  this  year,  seemed  thus  by  their  failure  to  augur  but  indifferently 


APPENDIX. 

for  the  future  prospects  of  at  least,  the  Monrovia  farmer  ;  and  the  effect  was 
such  as  was  naturally  to  be  expected.  The  conclusion  generally  inferred 
from  trials  conducted  in  several  different  ways,  and  all  terminating  in  the  same 
ill  success,  was  either  that  the  wretched  modes  of  tillage  folloived  by  the  natives 
must  be  adopted ;  or  that  nothing  valuable  in  the  way  of  farming,  could  be  accom- 
plished till  the  country  should  be  generally  and.  extensively  cleared  of  its  woods, 
and  the  plough  with  the  whole  system  of  an  improved  agriculture  be  introduced. — 
It  was  unfortunate,  that  several  individuals  had  exhausted  in  these  fruit- 
less experiments,  all  their  little  resources,  and  were  under  a  necessity  of  en- 
gaging for  the  subsistence  of  their  families  in  such  pursuits  as  promised  a 
surer  return  to  much  smaller  disbursements. 

But  there  was  one  exception.  Mr.  Cary  determined  to  try  the  .effect  of 
cropping  the  same  piece  of  ground,  the  following  season,  after  breaking  it 
more  thoroughly  than  had  ever  before  been  practised  either  by  his  neighbors 
or  the  country  people.  It  is  the  custom  of  these  last,  after  clearing  the  ground 
imperfectly,  to  dig  in  their  rice  with  a  small  hoe  or  mattock,  which  is  worked 
with  one  hand,  and  scarcely  disturbs  the  surface  of  the  soil.  Mr.  Cary,  after 
enlarging  his  plantation  of  the  former  season,  and  clearing  it  of  all  its  brush 
wood  and  shades,  had  the  whole  turned  up  with  picks  and  hoes,  to  the  depth 
of  several  inches,  early  in  June  last.  The  rice  was  then  sown,  in  the  propor- 
tion of  two  and  a  half  to  three  bushels  (rough)  to  the  acre;  and  covered  in 
to  thq  depth  of  two  or  three  inches.  The  rains  had  already  commenced.  A 
crop  of  Cassada,  after  the  custom  of  the  country,  was  inserted  in  the  same  soil, 
about  the  same  time,  to  follow  on  slowly  after  the  rice  crop,  and  come  to  ma- 
turity the  succeeding  season — both  were  prosperous.  The  rice  proved  a  very 
abundant  upland  crop,  and  matured  its  first  cutting  about  the  20th  of  October; 
the  last  ripened  in  the  first  week  of  September.  The  produce  is  estimated  at 
about  50  kroos*  the  acre.  It  is  singular,  that  on  the  very  ground  where,  the 
preceding  year,  the  porcupines  and  monkeys  had  destroyed  an  entire  crop,  no 
damage  was  suffered  from  either,  in  the  present;  and  that  even  the  rice  birds 
desisted  from  their  customary  depredations  on  a  field  of  grain,  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  which,  their  very  name  is  indicative  of  their  mischievous  activity. 

These  successful  results  of  a  very  laudable  perseverance  have  already  been 
productive  of  the  best  effects,  in  correcting  the  too  hasty  and  erroneous  con- 
clusions which  had  been  drawn  from  the  ill  success  of  the  farms  the  last  year. 
They  have  proved  either  that  the  vermin  of  the  Cape  have  diminished  in  an 
almost  incredible  degree,  within  the  last  twelve  months,  or  what  will  have  on 
the  practice  of  the  farmer  nearly  the  same  effect,  that  they  are  not  at  all 
seasons  equally  or  even  seriously  destructive.  They  prove  that  the  more  the 
lands  are  wrought,  the  better  is  the  prospect  of  a  good  crop — and  have  ob- 
viated a  still  more  unfortunate  prejudice,  derived  from  the  practice  of  the 
country,  that  the  same  piece  of  upland  will  not  yield  two  successive  crops  of 

*  Kroo,  an  African  measure  varying  from  3  to  5  Winchester  gallons. 


APPENDIX.  133 

this  grain,  and  that  the  only  way  to  restore  its  heart  after  a  single  crop  of 
rice  has  been  followed  with  one  or  two  of  cassada,  is  to  abandon  it  until  again 
overrun  with  a  young  forest. 

The  culture  of  arrow  root  on  a  small  scale,  and  its  preparation  for  use,  have 
more  than  two  years  ago,  been  brought  to  perfection.  It  has  since  become  a  com- 
mon article  of  food  with  persons  of  delicate  habits  or  imperfect  health.  I  have 
some  specimens  on  hand  to  be  forwarded  to  the  United  States  by  the  first  con- 
venient conveyance.  The  wives  of  L.  Crook  and  A.  Edmondson,  have  been 
among  the  most  active  in  the  culture  and  manipulation  of  this  useful  article. 

INDIGO. — This  article  has  been  cultivated,  and  the  extract  of  the  dye  pre- 
pared, just  to  a  sufficient  extent,  to  prove  that  if  undertaken  on  a  large  scale  by 
experienced  operators,  the  raising  arid  manufacture  of  it  might  be  made  a  most 
lucrative  business.  For  all  the  experiments  in  this  article,  the  Colony  is  in- 
debted to  the  attention  given  to  it  by  tbe  Rev.  Richmond  Sampson.  He  is  about 
laying  down  an  extensive  plantation  of  this  valuable  shrub ;  and  if  sufficient 
skill  can  be  brought  to  the  difficult  process  of  expressing  and  concocting  the 
dye,  I  doubt  not,  that  a  few  months  will  ascertain  to  us  the  interesting  fact, 
that  the  soil  and  climate  of  the  Indies  are  in  no  respect  more  congenial  to  this 
valuable  product  than  those  of  Liberia. 

SARAH  DRAPER,  a  single  (widow)  woman  from  Philadelphia,  who  arrived 
in  June,  1823,  without  property,  friends,  or  a  lucrative  trade,  deserves  an 
honorable  mention  among  such  of  the  Colonists  as  have  distinguished  them- 
selves by  their  well  directed  industry.  She  has  at  the  present  date,  a  well 
cultivated,  enclosed,  and  otherwise  improved  building  lot  in  town,  on  which 
she  has  completed  a  commodious  dwelling  of  good  materials,  to  which  she 
has  gone  far  towards  completing  a  still  more  valuable  addition.  She  provides 
respectably  for  two  African  children,  whom  she  has  undertaken  to  educate  for 
the  United  States'  Agency ;  and  who  are  daily  enjoying  the  advantages  of  the 
Free  School  of  Monrovia. 

But  the  activity  of  this  deserving  female  has  not  been  confined  to  her  little 
domestic  improvements.  In  1824,  (September,)  she,  with  many  other  females 
of  the  Colony  received  the  common  allotment  of  two  acres  of  plantation 
lands.  Unfortunately,  hers  fell  on  one  of  those  rough  and  rugged  spurs  of 
Montserado,  whose  rocky  surface  and  sturdy  forest  growth  seemed  to  defy 
the  efforts  of  industry  itself  to  subdue  and  tame  it  down  to  an  arable  state. 
But  Sarah  Draper  has  accomplished  this  task.  The  whole  lot  is  under  culti- 
vation ;  and  I  this  day  had  at  my  dinner  three  different  species  of  vegetables, 
the  growth  of  this  plantation  !  She  is  the  first  female  in  whose  name  Title 
Deeds  for  lands  in  Liberia  have  been  executed ;  and  to  increase  the  merit  of 
this  distinction,  she  has  acquired  the  right  to  this  valuable  freehold,  by  her 
own  unassisted  exertions.  And  what  she  has  accomplished,  any  female  simi- 
larly circumstanced,  who  is  capable  of  exercising  the  same  degree  of  resolu- 
tion, activity  and  perseverance,  may  achieve  in  the  same  time. 

J.  ASHMUN, 


134       ,,  APPENDIX. 

SKETCHES  OF  CHARACTER. 

STEPHEN  KIAH. 

It  is  due  to  the  memory  of  this  worthy  man,  to  transmit,  at  least,  a  simple 
notice  of  his  excellent  character,  to  his  descendants  in  this  Colony,  and  to  all 
who  may  inherit  after  him  the  blessing  of  a  civil  and  religious  community, 
which  his  example,  his  influence,  and  above  all,  his  prayers  have  largely  con- 
tributed towards  establishing  in  this  country. 

He  was  a  native,  and  for  upwards  of  the  first  70  years  of  his  life,  an  in- 
habitant of  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland.  It  was  his  lot  to  be  born  a  slave; 
but  long  before  the  middle  of  life,  by  his  industry  and  good  conduct,  he  ob- 
tained his  freedom,  and  became  the  father  of  a  numerous  and  highly  respecta- 
ble family — the  condition  of  whose  birth  spared  them  all  from  the  reproach 
(however  unjust)  of  having  ever  been  in  a  state  of  servitude. 

His  age  it  was  impossible  exactly  to  ascertain ;  but  he  has  told  me,  that  at 
the  time  of  Braddock's  defeat,  which  he  perfectly  recollects,  he  must  have 
been  well  grown.  As  that  event  occurred  in  the  year  1759,  Stephen  Kiah 
could  not  have  been  under  76  years  of  age,  at  the  time  of  his  embarkation  for 
Africa,  in  1822 ;  and,  as  rarely  as  such  a  circumstance  occurs,  he  at  this  time 
retained,  under  so  great  a  weight  of  years,  and  even  to  the  last  hour  of  his 
life,  much  of  that  soundness  of  judgment,  'promptness  of  recollection,  and 
strength  of  memory,  which  had  distinguished  him  in  an  unusual  degree 
through  life.  The  traits  of  his  character  were  happily  blended,  and  formed 
together  an  assemblage  of  very  striking  excellences,  to  which  none  who 
knew  him  could  long  remain  insensible.  Cheerfulness  without  levity ;  kind- 
ness tempered  with  discriminating  severity;  firmness  joined  with  the  most  ami- 
able docility,  were  among  the  most  conspicuous.  The  manly  firmness  of  in- 
flexible principle,  united  with  the  lamb-like  meekness  of  a  dependent  and 
submissive  child, — were  qualities,  which,  however  opposite  in  appearance ! 
were  most  harmoniously  interwoven  in  the  texture  of  his  moral  habits. 

His  constitution  had  been  robust,  his  habits  laborious,  and  as  a  consequence, 
his  circumstances,  at  the  period  of  his  emigration,  were  easy.  His  motive 
for  this  step  at  so  advanced  an  age,  he  explained  by  observing  to  me,  that  the 
remnant  of  his  own  life  was  of  too  little  importance  to  oppose  any  obstacle 
to  the  promotion  of  an  enterprise,  which  he  was  anxious  to  aid  by  his  example, 
for  the  sake  of  his  descendants,  and  the  colored  people  in  America.  He  could 
not  but  make  a  sacrifice  of  some  few  of  the  comforts  of  old  age,  by  the  re- 
moval ,  but  he  saw  in  the  Colony  an  asylum  prepared  by  the  Providence  of 
God,  for  the  people  of  color,  on  which  he  was  firmly  persuaded,  that  the  dew 
of  his  Heavenly  Blessing  would  copiously  descend  to  the  latest  period.  In 
this  confidence,  he  cheerfully  accompanied  his  numerous  family  to  this  distant 
coast,  which,  like  Moses,  he  most  earnestly  desired,  at  least,  to  be  permitted 


APPENDIX.  135 

to  behold;  and  like  Jacob,  to  have  his  bones  deposited  there.    And  his  de- 
sires were  fulfilled. 

But  he  was  not  exempted  from  those  severe  afflictions,  which  his  faith  so 
eminently  fitted  him  to  meet  with  composure,  and  sustain  with  the  most  ex- 
emplary patience.  His  aged  partner,  who  had  made  three-fourths  of  the  jour- 
ney of  life  with  him,  was  among  the  first  of  the  expedition,  who  fell  victims  to 
the  change  of  climate.  But  the  separation  was  rendered  easy  by  thejmutual  con- 
fidence of  a  speedy  re-union  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  which  animated  the 
bosoms  of  this  aged  couple.  A  pious  widowed  sister,  who  was  even  his  senior 
in  age,  soon  followed,  in  the  same  assured  hope  of  passing  to  the  immediate 
fruition  of  a  holier  and  immortal  life.  To  witness  this  scene  of— what  shall  I 
call  it  ?  it  certainly  was  any  thing  but  mortality — it  was  any  thing  but  afflic- 
tion—it  was  the  accomplishment  of  long  cherished  hopes!  it  was  putting  off  of 
mortality,  and  the  putting  on  of  immortality — it  was  the  triumph  of  faith  and 
hope,  and  of  the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  understanding.  To  witness 
but  one  such  scene  in  one's  life,  must  leave  a  lasting  conviction  of  the  power 
and  excellence  of  the  Holy  Religion  which  brightened  it,  in.the  most  sceptical 
mind. 

But  a  few  days  after  parting  with  his  friend,  he  was  called  to  furnish,  in  a 
new  furnace  of  trials,  another  proof  of  his  Christian  fortitude  and  confidence. 
In  the  attack  of  the  natives  upon  the  settlement,  on  the  morning  of  the  llth 
of  November,  two  of  his  grand  children  fell  almost  before  his  eyes — one  of 
them  having  been  killed  by  a  musket  shot,  and  the  other,  a  female,  assassina- 
ted under  circumstances  of  the  most  appalling  barbarity.  In  the  same  hour, 
a  very  worthy  son-in-law,  his  boast  and  principal  earthly  dependence  under 
the  infirmities  of  age,  was  disabled  for  life,  by  a  most  severe  wound  in  the 
shoulder,  and  five  small  grand  children  carried  into  captivity !  To  dis- 
cover no  marks  of  affliction  under  such  wounding  dispensations  of  Heaven, 
would  be  to  manifest  an  insensibility  of  heart,  which,  to  say  the  least,  is  no 
part  of  Christianity.  Mr.  Kiah  felt  the  chastisement  in  all  its  severity.  His 
heart  bled,  and  his  eyes  overflowed,  but  in  all  this,  he  sinned  not,  by  repining 
against  the  ordinance  of  Heaven,  by  despairing  of  the  Divine  mercy,  or 
charging  God  foolishly.  It  was  the  severest  trial  of  his  life,  and  the  more  so 
from  being  sudden  and  unexpected  :  but  he  soon  evinced  the  power  of  faith, 
still  superior,  and  discovered,  that  though  wounded  and  pierced,  his  spirit  was 
not  broken  ;  and  a  faithful  Saviour,  not  only  sustained  him  under  his  sorrows, 
but  delivered  him  from  them  by  repairing,  as  far  as  was  possible,  his  multi- 
plied bereavements.* 

He  continued,  although  nearly  worn  out  by  the  infirmities  of  ag.e,  to  em- 
ploy himself  in  such  labors  as  his  strength  would  permit, — was  the  advocate 
and  promoter  of  every  thing  laudable ;  a  powerful  reprover  of  all  deceit, 
slothfolness,  vice  and  irreligion ;  a  most  devout  and  humble  worshipper  of 

*  His  captive  grand  children  were  restored  to  him. 


136  APPENDIX. 

• 

God,  both  in  public,  in  social  meetings,  and  in  his  closet,  a  peaceable  and  ex* 
emplary  member  of  the  civil  community,  and  a  most  earnest,  active  and 
faithful  friend  to  the  souls  of  his  fellow  men,  till  his  peaceful  removal  to  a 
better  world,  in  April,  1825. 


A  black  man,  has  been  a  member  of  this  Colpny  since  the  beginning  of  the 
year  1820.  He  had  made  a  profession  of  religion  in  America:  but  never  since 
I  knew  him,  either  discharged  its  duties,  or  evinced  much  of  its  spirit,  till 
within  the  last  ten  months.  He  was  a  man  of  good  natural  sense,  but  wretch- 
ed in  the  extreme  ;  and  the  cause  of  equal  wretchedness  to  his  young  family. 
His  wife,  naturally  of  a  mild  and  placid  temper,  failed  in  almost  every  thing  to 
please  him,  or  prevent  the  constant  outbreakings  of  his  morose  and  peevish 
hunjpr.  He  was  her  tyrant—  and  so  instinct  with  malevolence,  the  vain  con- 
ceit of  superiority,  jealousy,  and  obstinate  pride,  as  to  resemble  more  an  Arab 
of  the  desert,  or  a  person  destitute  of  natural  affection,  than  a  person  by  edu- 
cation and  in  name,  a  Christian.  As  a  neighbor,  his  feelings  were  so  soured 
and  narrow,  as  to  render  him  disobliging,  suspicious,  and  equally  an  object  of 
general  dislike  and  neglect.  His  heart  was  a  moral  desert — no  kind  affection 
seemed  to  stir  within  it;  and  the  bitter  streams  which  it  discharged  had  spread 
a  moral  desolation  around  him,  and  left  him  the  solitary  victim  of  his  own  cor- 
roding temper. 

Such  an  ascendant  had  these  evil  qualities  over  the  other  faculties  of  his  mind, 
as  in  a  great  measure  to  dim  the  light  of  reason,  and  render  him  as  a  subject 
of  the  colonial  government,  no  less  perverse  and  untractable,  than  he  was  de- 
based and  wretched,  as  a  man. 

Several  times  have  the  laws,  which  guard  the  peace  of  our  little  community, 
been  called  in,  to  check  the  excesses  of  his  turbulent  passions,  by  supplying  the 
weakness  of  more  ingenuous  motives.  Still  this  person  discovered,  in  the  midst 
of  this  wreck  of  moral  excellence,  a  few  remaining  qualities,  on  which  charity 
might  fix  the  hope  of  his  recovery  to  virtue,  usefulness  and  happiness.  But 
these  were  few,  and  mostly  of  a  negative  kind.  He  was  not  addicted  to  pro- 
fane discourse.  He  allowed  himself  in  no  intemperate  indulgences.  He  ob- 
served towards  sacred  institutions  a  cold,  but  still  an  habitual  respect.  And, 
strange  as  the  fact  may  seem,  he  was  laborious  in  his  avocations,  even  to  se- 
vere drudgery,  and  equally  a  stranger  to  avarice,  and  a  passion  for  vain  osten- 
tation. Whether  these  relieving  traits  of  his  character  were  the  effects  of  hab- 
it, produced  by  the  influence  of  former  piety ;  or  whether  they  were  the  result 
of  constitutional  temperament,  or  of  education,  is  not  for  me  to  decide.  But 
such  was  L.  C.,  until  the  autumn  of  1824 ;  when  not  only  a  reform,  but  an  ab- 
solute reversal,  of  every  perverse  disposition  and  habit  in  the  revolting  cata- 
logue of  his  character  took  place.  A  more  obliging  and  affectionate  husband 
I  am  convinced  is  not  to  be  found  on  this  Cape,  few  in  the  world  •  And  there 


APPENDIX. 


137 


is  no  appearance  of  constraint,  or  affectation  in  this  display  of  tenderness.  It 
is  uniform,  untiring,  cordial,  and  increasing,  as  far  as  it  is  permitted  to  any 
one,  except  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  to  judge.  In  all  his  intercourse  with  his 
family,  and  neighbors,  he  carries  with  him,  an  inimitable  air  of  sweet  and  pro- 
found humility.  You  would  pronounce  it  to  be  the  meekness  of  the  heart 
springing  from  some  deepfelt  sentiment  of  the  interior  of  the  mind.  But  so 
far  from  abasing  the  possessor,  in  the  estimation  of  others,  this  very  trait  com- 
mands their  respect,  and  their  love.  It  gives  to  him  a  value,  which  he  never 
appeared  to  possess  before.  Ten  months  have  I  now  had  daily  opportunities 
to  observe  this  altered  man  in  a  great  variety  of  circumstances,  and  some  of 
them,  it  must  be  confessed,  sufficiently  trying.  In  one  instance,  1  have  had 
to  regret,  and  censure  the  appearance  of  that  perversity,  which  made  an  im- 
portant part  of  his  former  character.  But  happily  this  fit  of  turbulence  was 
of  short  duration :  and  some  months  have  passed  since,  without  witnessing 
a  repetition  of  the  infirmity.  Were  I  this  evening  asked  to  name  the  man  in 
the  Colony,  who  would  most  carefully  guard  against  offending,  or  causing 
even  a  momentary  pain  to  any  of  his  fellow-men,  I  should  not  hesitate  to  say 
that  in  my  judgment,  the  man  is  L.  C.  On  this  point  I  insist,  because  it  was 
precisely  in  his  revolting  and  unfeeling  churlishness,  that  his  greatest  and  most 
incurable  infirmity  seemed  to  consist.  I  hardly  need  add,  were  silence  not 
liable  to  misconstruction,  that  the  duties  and  ordinances  of  religion  are  mat- 
ters of  his  most  devout  and  diligent  observance.  How  often  have  I  been 
awaked  at  the  dawn  of  Sabbath,  by  his  devout  strains  of  prayer  and  praise, 
sent  up  from  the  midst  of  a  little  company  of  praying  people,  who  at  that  hour 
assemble  for  religious  exercises  in  a  vacant  building  near  my  residence. 
How  sure  am  I  to  find  him  reverently  seated  in  his  place,  among  the  earliest 
who  assemble  in  the  house  of  God.  What  an  active  promoter  of  every  com- 
mendable and  pious  design,  is  sure  to  be  found  in  him. 

Every  laudable  habit,  which  had  survived  the  general  extinction  of  all  prac- 
tical virtue,  seems  to  have  acquired  additional  confirmation :  and  from  the 
operation  of  higher  principles,  seems  to  follow  of  course,  and  derive  the  best 
guaranty  of  its  continuance.  I  might  go  on  to  particularize;  but  it  would  only 
be  to  fill  up  the  outline  already  sketched,  and  which,  whether  relating  to  his 
former,  or  his  present  character,  however  imperfect,  is  strictly  true.  Ask  of  him 
the  cause  of  so  obvious  and  surprising  a  change,  and  he  humbly,  but  unhesita- 
tingly ascribes  it  wholly  to  the  power  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  operating,  he  cannot 
tell  how,  but  evidently  by  means  of  the  word  and  ordinances  of  God,  upon  his 
whole  mind.  Such  was  the  origin  of  this  great  moral  renovation,  and  such 
are  the  agency  and  means  by  which  its  effects  are  sustained,  and  under  tho 
operation  of  which  they  are  beginning  to  combine  into  a  habit  of  holine?s.  He 
rejoices  in  the  hope  of  its  duration  to  the  end  of  life,  solely  ho  would  ray  from 
the  confidence  he  has  in  the  immutable  love  and  faithfulness  of  the  Holy  Be- 
ing, who  has  wrought  so  great  a  work  in  him.  And  let  philosophers  cavil  and 
doubt,  if  they  must;  but  this  man's  example  is  a  refutation  in  fact  of  a  thou- 

S 


138  APPKM)I\. 

sand  of  their  sceptical  theories.  He  is  a  new  man,  and  the  change  was  effect- 
ed chiefly  before  discipline,  or  example,  Lad  time  to  work  it.  He  is  an  hon- 
est man,  and  soberly  asserts  that  to  his  certain  knowledge  he  did  not  perform 
the  work  himself.  But  where  is  the  example  to  be  found  of  suck  and  so  great 
a  change,  wrought  by  mortal  means  ?  The  history  of  the  human  race  is  chal- 
lenged to  produce  it.  To  God  then  who  created  man,  to  Christ  who  redeemed 
him,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost  who  sanctifies  him,  be  ascribed  without  abate- 
ment, or  reserve,  the  power  and  the  grace  displayed  in  this  and  every  similar 
instance  of  the  conversion  of  a  blind,  and  hardened  and  wretched  sinner. 


.MONROVIA,  WESTERN  AFRICA,  AUGUST  7,  1826. 

To  the  Reverend  Pastor,  (if  any,}  the  Deacons  and  Brethren 

of  the  Congregational  Church  of  Christ,  in  Cham-plain  : 
RESPECTED  AND  BELOVED  FATHERS  AND  BRETHREN  : 

A  review  of  the  sixteen  years  of  my  connexion  with  your  body,  in  the  holy 
ties  of  a  common  faith,  and  a  common  hope,  while  it  overwhelms  my  mind 
with  the  number,  and  infinite  value  of  the  blessings  derived  to  me  from  that 
connexion,  produces,  also,  a  painful  conviction  of  having  failed  in  many  of 
the  duties  which  it  imposes.  The  delinquencies  of  which  I  have  to  accuse 
myself,  are  chiefly  to  be  traced  up  to  the  neglect  of  that  direct  and  frequent 
correspondence  with  your  Pastor  and  yourselves,  which  it  was  equally  my 
privilege  and  my  duty  to  have  cultivated.  But,  separated  from  you  for  so 
many  years,  and  often,  as  at  present,  by  a  distance  of  some  thousands  of  miles, 
I  fear,  I  have  almost  ceased  to  be  regarded  by  you  as  one  of  your  number — 
and  that  I  retain  only  a  small  interest  in  your  affections  and  your  prayers, 
which  I  desire  might  be  the  greater,  as  my  privilege  of  being  watched  over, 
counselled,  and  encouraged  by  )TOU,  is  the  less. 

It  is  my  earnest  wish  and  resolution,  however,  the  grace  of  Gr  •  assisting, 
to  repair  hereafter,  by  every  means  in  my  power,  those  neglects,  and  retrieve 
the  many  lost  advantages  which  I  have  to  regret  a~  the  consequence  of  them . 
A.nd  here  I  cannot  repress  the  affecting  recollection,  that  so  many  of  our  be- 
loved and  esteemed  members — some  of  whom  we  all  accounted  fathers  and 
mothers  in  our  little  Israel,  when  I  last  met  you  at  the  Sacramental  Supper  of 
the  Redeemer,  are  now  withdrawn  forever,  from  our  communioL  on  earth, 
and  can  assist  us  no  more,  except  by  the  example  which  they  have  left  us,  and 
the  seed  sown  by  their  prayers  and  watered  by  their  tears,  now  exchanged  for 
the  joys  and  the  praises  of  Heaven.  But,  I  trust,  your  thinned  ranks  have 
been,  from  time  to  time,  replenished  by  accessions  from  the  world;  and  that 
the  engagement  of  the  Almighty  Saviour  to  his  general  Church,  that  "  the 
gates  of  Hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it,"  has  been  fulfilled,  in  respect  to  your 
particular  communion.  But  my  want  of  exact  information,  in  regard  to  your 


ALM'tiNDIX.  139 

present  state,  is  both  an  evidence  and  reproof  of  that  neglect  ot  my  covenant 
engagements  for  which  I  blaue  myself :  and  desire  forgiveness  both  from  God 
and  yourselves. 

The  books  of  the  church  will  show  that  I  became  an  unworthy  member,  in 
the  summer  of  1810  ;  and  from  thai  period  till  September,  1816,  while  pur- 
suing my  studies  at  the  school  of  "neighboring  state,  was  permitted  by  my 
situation,  occasionally  to  unite  with  you  in  worship,  and  the  ordinances  of  the 
church. 

From  1816  to  1819,  without  withdrawing  or  desiring  to  withdraw  from  my 
relation  to  your  church,  I  enjoyed  in  Maine,  the  benefits  of  a  very  endeared 
ccvuiexion  with  another,  which  God  had  been  pleased  to  gather  out  of  the 
world,  partly  by  my  own  instrumentality.  The  temporary  natur?  of  my  en- 
gagements and  residence  in  Maine,  did  not,  I  think,  allow  of  my  applying1  to 
you  for  a  dirnissory  letter  ;  but  I  think:  I  then  erred,  in  not  asking,  and  using, 
if  granted,  a  certificate  of  my  standing,  accompanied  with  your  recommenda- 
tion to  the  communion  of  sister  churches. 

A  similar  neglect  was  indulged  during  a  residence  of  three  years  ensuing, 
in  the  City  of  Washington;  and,  to  add  to  my  present  regrets,  I  believe  I  did 
not  in  that  whole  time,  inform  you  of  the  circumstances  in  which  I  was 
placed  in  that  city.  I  had  received  in  Maine,  a  license  limited  to  three  years, 
to  preach  the  gospel,  but  without  ordination.  At  the  expiration  of  that  term, 
having  engaged  myself  in  the  publication  of  a  Religious  Monthly  Magazine, 
which  occupied  much  of  my  time  ;  I  deferred,  and  at  length  relinquished  for 
the  present,  the  intention  of  applying  for  a  renewal  of  my  ministerial  cre- 
dentials. One  reason  for  this  course  was  the  occurrence  of  some  doubts  as 
to  the  expediency  of  such  an  application  ;  believing,  and  I  think  perceiving 
myself  to  a  certain  extent,  useful  in  another  line  of  duty.  The  circumstance 
of  there  being  no  Congregational  Churches  and  Ministry  of  the  orthodox 
faith  in  that  part  of  the  United  States,  also  had  an  influence,  I  fear,  too  much 
influence,  to  dissuade  me  from  resuming  the  Ministry,  to  which  I  had  in  a 
manner  consecrated  myself.  I  have  often  since  lamented  that  I  did  not,  at 
that  time,  freely  correspond  with  my  brethren  in  Champlain,  on  those  subjects. 
God  might  have  blessed  their  counsel ;  and  it  was  equally  my  privilege  and 
duty,  to  have  recourse  to  it  for  direction.  I  wandered  in  much  darkness 
throughout  this  period,  and  suffered  in  the  strife  of  conscience,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  of  uncertainty  as  to  the  path  of  duty  on  the  other,  many  distressing  con- 
flicts. 

My  lot  had  been  providentially  cast  with  the  second  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  City  of  Washington,  which  I  found  blest  with  an  Evangelical  Ministry,  a 
pure  faith,  and  a  pious  congregation.  I  addicted  myself  to  the  worship  and 
communion  of  this  particular  congregation  ;  and  generally,  to  the  service  of 
the  Episcopal  Church  of  the  middle  States,  until  May,  1822,  when  having  ac- 
cepted of  a  joint  appointment  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and 


140  APPENDIX. 

of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  to  this  country,  I  left  the  United  States, 
and  have  since  been  an  inhabitant  of  this  country. 

My  duties  here  have  been,  and  continue  to  be  various;  and  my  sphere  of  in- 
fluence as  a  Christian  as  well  as  a  man,  every  month  extending  itself.  I  am 
not  left  to  an  entire  insensibility  of  my^dread  responsibility  to  God  and  this 
generation ;  and  of  the  folly  of  expect!^  to  make  one  right  step  without  a 
special  Divine  guidance.  I  cry  to  God  for  his  all-sufficient  grace,  and  have 
often  been  heard.  And  blessed  be  his  name,  my  very  heart  ascribes  to  Him  all 
the  glory.  In  my  present  protracted  affliction,  while  confined  to  my  chamber, 
and  for  the  most  part,  to  my  bed — his  promises  and  his  comforts  quiet  my 
impatience  and  sustain  iny  spirits.  It  is  not  for  my  sake,  He  has  given  me 
well  to  understand,  my  brethren — it  is  not  for  my  sake,  bat  for  His  own  great 
name,  that  he  has  afforded  me  so  many  tokens  of  His  favor,  and  so  signally  ap- 
proved of  some  of  the  works  of  my  hands,  in  this  dry  and  solitary  land,  where 
the  waters  of  his  sanctuary  have  never  till  lately,  flowed. 

The  same  faith  which  God  enabled  me  to  profess  in  Champlain,  in  1810, 
has  been  the  steadfast  anchor  of  my  soul,  in  the  floods  of  heresy,  the  tempests 
of  affliction,  and  the  more  dangerous,  because  more  seductive  sunshine  of 
worldly  prosperity,  by  which  it  has  been  successively  assailed.  I  do  not  say 
that  my  views  of  the  glorious  doctrines  of  the  Saviour,  have  not,  from  reading 
the  Scriptures,  and  other  means  of  improvement,  been  somewhat  extended 
since  that  period — on  a  very  few  points  they  have  undergone  a  change.  But 
the  grand  system  of  Evangelical  Doctrines  held  by  our  Church,  and  set  forth 
in  its  "confession  of  faith"  and  approved  formularies,  I  am  fully  satisfied  is 
according  to  the  only  revelation  which  Jehovah  has  made  of  his  will  and  hLs 
truth,  to  man.  They  are  essentially,  those  alone  by  which  the  mind  can  be 
awakened,  and  Divinely  illuminated — the  heart  changed— the  soul  sanctified — 
the  true  God  seen  in  his  own  character — Christ  exalted — the  principalities 
and  powers  of  this  world  and  of  Hell  subdued — and  our  anxious  hopes  and 
desires  crowned  in  the  end  with  eternal  life.  These  are  their  blessed  fruits 
wherever  God  owns  them  in  all  the  world  ;  and  he  docs  own  them  as  his  pe- 
culiar doctrines,  wherever  they  are  published.  The  poor  children  of  Africa 
have,  in  this  country,  had  their  hearts  opened  to  receive  them  ;  and  they  have 
"  converted  their  souls."  The  reception  of  this  holy  faith  produces  on  the 
most  ignorant  and  savage,  equally  as  upon  the  enlightened  and  polished,  the 
peculiar  characters  of  self-abasement,  penitence  and  conformity  to  the  Divine 
image.  And  this  faith  is  found  to  be  the  only  faith  which  can  accomplish  such 
effects.  Wherever  it  is  neglected,  the  lifr  of  holiness  in  such  as  are  called 
Christians,  disappears.  Wherever  it  is  decried,  vice,  and  sin  are  seen  to  ereet 
themselves,  triumphantly,  in  a  thousand  forms. 

Let  us  then,  my  brethren,  hold  fast. '.the  profession  of  so  excellent  a  faith 
without  wavering  ;  and  O,  may  we  look  well  to  it,  that  we  hold  it  not  in  un- 
righteousness. We  have  a  glorious,  but  a  most  righteous  Master ;  He  ha? 
given  us  all,  and  I  do  not  think  it  humility  to  deny  it,  many  talenta— and  tviU 


APPENDIX.  141 

be  as  speedy  as  we  know  him  strict,  in  calling  us  to  account  for  them.  You 
are  in  the  bosom  of  a  Christian  community;  and  He  there,  my  brethren,  has 
laid  you  out  abundance  of  work,  without  which,  your  own  souls  and  the  souls 
of  many  others,  cannot  be  saved.  To  me  is  appointed,  with  perhaps  equal 
obligations  and  fewer  privileges,  in  this  land  of  darkness,  the  great  labor  of 
planting  his  Church,  and  making  provision  for  the  sheep  and  lambs  of  his 
flock.  Much  depends  on  my  fidelity — strengthen  my  weakness  by  your 
prayers,  my  brethren.  And  may  the  Author  of  the  great  salvation  we  are 
hoping  and  laboring  after,  multiply  to  us  abundantly,  the  graces  of  his  Spirit — 
perfect  in  us  that  which  is  lacking — and  bring  us  safely  to  his  eternal  glory, 
through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord. 

JEHUDI  ASHMUN. 


MONROVIA,  SABBATH  MORNING,  MAY  27,  1827 
To  my  Three  Youngest  Brothers. 

DEAR  BOYS  : — It  is  my  lot  to  have  been  wholly  separated  from  you,  almost 
from  your  infancy.  I  have  a  faint  recollection  of  your  features,  in  early  child- 
hood; but  no  knowledge  whatever,  of  your  present  dispositions  or  even  of  your 
persons.  And,  as  little  as  I  know  you,  I  am  probably  more  a  stranger  to  you, 
than  you  to  me. — But  there  is  still  a  strong  and  mysterious  tie  of  endearment 
which  unites  us,  and  renders  your  interest  and  welfare  most  precious  to  my 
heart.  1  cannot  feel  towards  any  one  of  you  as  towards  a  stranger.  You  are 
my  brothers  ;  partners  of  the  very-blood  which  warms  my  bosom — it  would 
afford  me  the  most  sensible  pleasure ,  if  the  climate  of  this  country  were  not 
too  dangerous,  to  have  one  or  more  of  you  with  me  in  Liberia;  I  have  almost 
thought  of  sending  for  you— but  am  not  willing  to  run  so  great  a  risk  of  sacri- 
ficing your  health  and  life,  merely  to  gratify  my  private  feelings.  Were  you 
with  me,  it  would  be  my  delight,  to  be  of  some  service  in  training  you  to  future 
usefulness,  respectability,  and  happiness.  Nor  is  this  desire  less,  because  you 
are  separated  from  me  by  a  wide  Ocean.  But  how  shall  I  do  you  good  ? — If  I 
had  money  to  send,  which  should  enrich  you,  would  this  do  it?  So  far  from 
riches  being  of  use  to  you  in  the  end,  they  might  not — probably  would  not, 
render  you  one  particle  the  happier,  even  in  the  present  world — and  would 
certainly  endanger  your  salvation  in  the  woild  to  come. 

Could  I  raise  you  to  posts  of  distinction  and  honor,  as  you  advance  in  life, 
(he  elevation  might  only  increase  your  power  of  injuring  yourselves  and  others. 
It  might  only  be  to  lift  you  from  the  ground,  in  order  to  give  you  a  heavier  and 
more  ruinous  fall.  Temporary  and  vain  distinctions  in  this  poor  life,  are  often, 
even  while  life  lasts,  the  occasion  of  deep  disgrace — and  I  am  afraid  too  com- 
monly prepare  the  soul  for  endless  disgrace  and  mortification,  after  life  is 
at  an  end. — Had  I  the  power  to  command  with  a  word,  all  the  pleasures  and 
delights  of  this  earth,  and  at  a  word,  to  make  them  all  your  own,  my  dear  bro- 


142  "APPENDIX. 

thers,  I  should  not,  dare  not,  confer  on  you  so  crael  and  fatal  a  gift.  " 
fore  ?  Because  I  love  you  not  ?  God  knoweth."  No — but,  because  he  who 
made  the  world,  has  told  us,  that  all  these  things  are  only  snares  and  tempta- 
tions to  such  as  are  living  in  it ;  has  warned  us,  as  we  regard  his  authority, 
and  our  own  safety,  to  forsake  and  dread  them,  as  the  enemies  of  both.— I  am 
afraid  that  all  this  shocks  you.  "  What,"  you  ask,  "  deprive  us  of  the  hope  of 
*  wealth,  distinction,  and  pleasure,  in  life  ;  and  what  do  you  leave  us  .'—Would 
'  you  consign  us,  young  as  we  are,  to  gloom  and  indolence  ?  Take  away  the 
'  prospect  of  these  things,  and  what  motive  have  we  to  study  ?— to  improve  our- 
«  selves  ? — to  industry,  and  action  ? — What  can  our  hopes  take  hold  of,  to  keep 
'  us  from  dejection  and  misery  ?"  I  know  well,  what  a  hard  task  I  have,  to 
answer  these  inquiries  to  your  satisfaction.  I  am  afraid  after  all,  that  I  cannot 
satisfy  you.  Take  away  those  things  from  three-fourths  of  the  world,  and  I 
know  well  that  they  have  nothing  left ;  that  they  are  as  wretched  as  sin  and  a 
world  of  troubles,  can  render  them.  But,  my  brothers,  I  must  remind  you,  at 
first,  of  two  great  delusions,  belonging  to  those  objects  of  worldly  attraction, 
which  I  have  warned  you  against.  The  first  is,  That  iht  riches  and  honors,  and 
pleasures  of  this  life,  are  no  such  matters  at  all,  as  your  imaginations  represent  them. 
It  is  but  a  little  of  any  of  them,  that  I  have  tried — but  that  little  has  proved  to 
me,  that,  one  and  all,  are  "vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit."  There  is  no  substance, 
nor  reality,  in  them  all.  They  are  shadows,  which,  seen  at  a  distance,  appear 
to  be  substances.  The  whole  world,  almost,  are  gone  away  after  them.  The 
Devil  makes  them  reflect  a  dazzling  brightness  into  the  minds,  especially  of  the 
young.  The  example  of  so  many  thousands,  many  of  them  men  of  sense  and 
learning,  has,  also,  a  surprisingly  imposing  effect,  and  most  are  deceived,  and 
will  not  own  their  deception,  till  it  is  too  late  to  escape  its  consequences.  There 
are  no  such  things  then,  in  this  world,  or  any  other,  as  your  young  hearts  represent 
to  you,  the  riches,  pleasures  and  distinctions  of  the  wot  Id,  to  be.  This  is  the  first 
delusion  I  spoke  of.  The  other  is,  that  these  things,  have  an  influence  on  the 
mind,  which  no  one  knows,  till  he  has  suffered  from  it.  They  place  God  at  a  dis- 
tance— they  harden  and  brutalize  the  heart,  and  feelings  ;  they  make  repen- 
tance ten  thousand  times  more  difficult ;  they  give  a  certain  stoutness  of  feel- 
ing to  the  worst  and  most  God-provoking  dispositions  of  our  nature.  They 
bring  error  and  unbelief,  in  torrents  and  floods,  into  the  mind.  Understand  me. 
These  are  the  certain  effects  of  wealth,  fame,  and  worldly  enjoyment,  when 
not  sanctified  with  God's  blessing.  And  these  effects  will  stay  with  the  soul, 
as  long  as  the  soul  exists,  no  matter  in  what  worlds,  or  what  local  position. 
When  this  world  shall  have  been  turned  into  a  heap  of  ashes,  then,  my  dear 
brothers,  such  as  sought  their  portion  in  it,  shall  be  lamenting  its  effects  upon 
their  immortal  natures.  But  your  young  hearts  have,  perhaps,  never  imagin- 
ed such  a  sting  to  exist  in  these  desirable  objects— nor  such  a  curse  to  follow 
after  the  unsanctified  enjoyment  of  them.  Here  then  is  the  second  delusion 
the  world  is  endeavoring  to  put  upon  you.  Fair  as  her  portion  is  in  the  pros- 
pect—'tis foul  and  deformed  as  hell  itself,  to  which  it  leads,  after  you  hare 


APPENDIX.  143 

embraced  it— And  O,  remember,  the  deadly  sting  it  is  certain  to  leave  behind 
it.  "  It  will  bite  as  a  serpent,  and  sting  as  an  adder."  And  lest  the  pleasur  es 
of  sin  shoulu  be  too  kind  to  you,  the  Lord  Omnipotent  will  take  the  matter  in  hand 
himself  and  punish  all  who  drink  of  them,  for  the  offence  they  commit  against  him, 
in  doing  so.  For,  he  has  told  us  all,  to  let  them  alone.  "But all  this  does  not," 
you  may  say,  "answer  our  question" — "If  you  take  from  us  these  things,  what 
have  we  left  ?"  It  does  not.  But  I  will  now  reply  to  it.  You  will  have  left 
you,  if  you  resign  the  world  for  the  Lord's  sake,  and  because  his  word  requires 
it ;  you  will  still  possess,  a  God  as  your  friend— his  Son,  your  Redeemer — his 
Spirit,  the  companion  and  associate  of  your  spirits.  God  will  then  give  you, 
in  place  of  what  you  give  up  for  him,  a  conscience  forever  at  rest— hopes  full 
of  immortality  and  joy — a  heart  full  of  love,  and  charity,  a  Section,  and  peace — 
a  mind  enlightened  with  heavenly  wisdom — the  esteem,  and  respect,  and  con- 
fidence, and  lo  r  ,  of  all  the  good  and  excellent  of  the  earth — so  much  of  the 
good  things  of  the  world  as  you  can  bear ;  and  "  his  blessing,  which  maketh 
rich,  and  addeth  no  sorrow  with  it."  He  will  "write  your  names  in  heaven;" 
revoke  the  curse  which  his  law  has  uttered  against  you  as  sinners  ;  and  will 
show  you  the  heights  and  depths,  of  his  love,  and  grace,  in  Christ ;  revealing 
mysteries  which  angels  never,  till  lately,  knew  ;  and  teaching  you  the  things 
which  it  never  entered  into  the  heart  of  the  natural  man  to  conceive.  All 
this  you  get  in  exchange  for  this  mean  world.  And  may  the  Spirit  of  God 
assist  you,  now  in  the  days  of  your  youth,  to  make  the  wise  exchange  imme- 
diately. J.  ASHMUN. 


'. 

i 


SKETCH  OF  THE  LIFE 


OF   THE 


REV.    LOTT     CARY 


SKETCH  OK  THE  LIFE 


OK    THE 


R  E  V.  L  0  T  T  C  A  R  Y 


THE  Rev.  LOTT  GARY  was  born  a  slave,  near  Richmond,  Virginia,  and  was 
early  hired  out  as  a  common  laborer  in  that  city,  where,  for  some  years,  he 
remained,  entirely  regardless  of  religion,  and  much  addicted  to  profane  and 
vicious  habits.  But  God  was  pleased  to  convince  him  of  the  misery  of  a  sin- 
ful state,  and  in  18U7,  he  publicly  professed  his  faith  in  the  Saviour,  and  be- 
came a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church. 

It  is  remarked  by  one  who  was  intimately  acquainted  with  I/is  situation  and 
character  previous  to  his  embarkation  for  Africa,  "  that  his  Father  was  a  pious 
and  much  respected  member  of  the  Baptist  Church — and  his  Mother,  though 
she  made  no  public  profession  of  religion,  died,  giving  evidence  that  she  had 
relied  for  salvation  upon  the  Son  of  God.  He  was  their  only  child,  and  though 
he  had  no  early  instruction  from  books,  the  admonitions  and  prayers  of  his  il- 
literate parents  may  have  laid  the  foundations  for  his  future  usefulness." 

A  strong  desire  to  be  able  to  read,  was  excited  iYi  his  mind,  by  a  sermon  to 
which  he  attended  soon  after  his  conversion,  and  which  related  to  our  Lord's 
interview  with  Nicodernus  ;  arid  having  obtained  a  Testament,  he  commenced 
learning  his  letters,  by  trying  to  read  the  chapter  in  which  this  interview  is  re- 
corded. He  received  some  instruction,  though  he  never  attended  a  regular 
school.  Such,  however,  were  his  diligence  and  perseverance,  that  he  over- 
came all  obstacles  and  acquired  not  only  the  art  of  reading,  but  of  writing  also. 
Shortly  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife  in  1813,  he  ransomed  himself  arid  two 
children  for  $850,  a  sum  which  he  had  obtained  by  his  singular  ability  and 
fidelity  in  managing  the  concerns  of  the  tobacco  warehouse.  Of  the  real 


148  APPENDIX. 

value  of  his  services  there,  it  has  been  remarked,  "  no  one  but  a  dealer  in 
tobacco  can  form  an  idea.  Notwithstanding  the  hundreds  of  hogsheads  that 
were  committed  to  his  charge,  he  could  produce  any  one  the  instant  it  was 
called  for ;  and  the  shipments  were  made  with  a  promptness  and  correctness, 
such  as  no  person,  white  or  black,  has  equalled  in  the  same  situation."* 

As  early  as  the  year  1815,  he  began  to  feel  a  special  interest  in  the  cause  of 
African  Missions,  and  contributed  probably  more  than  any  other  person,  in 
giving  origin  and  character  to  the  African  Missionary  Society  established 
during  that  year  in  Richmond,  and  which  has,  for  many  years,  collected  and 
appropriated  annually,  to  the  cause  of  Christianity  in  Africa,  from  one  hun- 
dred, to  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  His  benevolence  was  practical ;  and 
whenever  and  wherever  good  objects  were  to  be  effected,  he  was  ready  to  lend 
his  aid.  He  became  a  preacher  several  years  before  he  left  this  country,  and 
generally  engaged  in  this  service  every  Sabbath,  among  the  colored  people 
on  plantations  a  few  miles  from  Richmond. 

A  correspondent,  from  wrhom  we  have  already  quoted,  observes,  "  In 
preaching,  notwithstanding  his  grammatical  inaccuracies,  he  was  often  truly 
eloquent.  He  had  derived  almost  nothing  from  the  schools,  and  his  manner 
was  of  course  unpolished,  but  his  ideas  would  sometimes  burst  upon  you  in 
their  native  solemnity,  and  awaken  deeper  feelings  than  the  most  polished,  but 
less  original  and  inartificial  discourse."  A  distinguished  Minister  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  said  to  the  writer,  "  A  sermon  which  I  heard  from  Mr. 
Gary,  shortly  before  he  sailed  for  Africa,  was  the  best  extemporaneous  ser- 
mon I  ever  heard.  It  contained  more  original  and  impressive  thoughts,  some 
of  which  are  distinct  in  my  memory,  and  never  can  be  forgotten." 

Mr.  Gary  was  among  the  earliest  emigrants  to  Africa.  For  some  time  be- 
fore his  departure  he  had  sustained  the  office  of  Pastor  of  a  Baptist  Church  of 
colored  persons  in  Richmond,  embracing  nearly  eight  hundred  members,  re- 
ceived from  it  a  liberal  support,  and  enjoyed  its  confidence  and  affection. — 
When  an  intelligent  Minister  of  the  same  Church  inquired,  why  he  could  de- 
termine to  quit  a  station  of  so  much  comfort  and  usefulness,  to  encounter  the 
dangers  of  an  African  climate,  and  hazard  every  thing  to  plant  a  Colony  on  a 
distant  heathen  shore  ?  His  reply  was  to  this  effect,  "  I  am  an  African,  and  in 
this  country,  however  meritorious  ,my  conduct,  and  respectable  my  character, 
I  cannot  receive  the  credit  due  to  either.  1  wish  to  go  to  a  country  where  I 
shall  be  estimated  by  my  merits,  not  by  my  complexion  ;  and  I  feel  bound  to 
labor  for  my  suffering  race."  He  seemed  to  have  imbibed  the  sentiment  of 
Paul,  and  to  have  great  heaviness  and  continual  sorrow  in  his  heart,  for  his 
brethren,  his  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh. 

*  It  is  said,  that  while  employed  at  the  warehouse,  he  often  devoted  his  lei- 
sure time  to  reading,  and  that  a  gentleman,  on  one  occasion,  taking  up  a  book 
which  he  had  left  for  a  few  moments,  found  it  to  be  "  Smith's  Wealth  of  Na- 
tions.'* 


APPENDIX.  149 

At  the  close  of  his  farewell  sermon  in  the  First  Baptist  Meeting  House  in 
.Richmond,  he  remarked  in  substance,  as  follows :  "  I  am  about  to  leave  you 
and  expect  to  see  your  faces  no  more.  I  long  to  preach  to  the  poor  Africans  the 
way  of  life  and  salvation.  I  don't  know  what  may  befal  me,  whether  I  may 
find  a  grave  in  the  ocean,  or  among  the  savage  men,  or  more  savage  wild 
beasts  on  the  Coast  of  Africa;  nor  am  I  anxious  what  may  become  of  me.  I 
feel  it  my  duty  to  go  ;  and  I  very  much  fear  that  many  of  those  who  preach 
the  Gospel  in  this  country,  will  blush  when  the  Saviour  calls  them  to  give  an 
account  of  their  labors  in  His  cause,  and  tells  them,  'I  commanded  you  to  go 
into  all  the  world,  und  preach  tue  Gospel  to  every  creature  ;'  (and  with  the 
most  forcible  emphasis  he  exclaimed,)  the  Saviour  may  ask  where  have  you 
been  ?  what  have  you  been  doing?  have  you  endeavored  to  the  utmost  of  your 
ability  to  fulfil  the  commands  I  gave  you,  or  have  you  sought  your  own  grati- 
fication, and  your  own  ease,  regardless  of  my  commands  ?" 

On  his  arrival  in  Africa  he  saw  before  him  a  wide  and  interesting  field,  de- 
manding various  and  energetic  talents,  and  (he  most  devoted  piety.  His  in- 
tellectual ability,  firmness  of  purpose,  unbending  integrity,  correct  judgment, 
and  disinterested  benevolence,  soon  placed  him  in  a  conspicuous  station,  and 
gave  him  wide  and  commanding  influence.  Though  naturally  diffident  and 
retiring,  his  worth  wras  too  evident,  to  allow  of  his  continuance  in  obscurity. 
It  is  well  known,  that  great  difficulties  were  encountered  in  founding  a  settle-, 
ment  at  Cape  Montserado.  So  appalling  were  the  circumstances  of  the  first 
settlers,  that  soon  after  they  had  taken  possession  of  the  Cape,  it  was  proposed 
that  they  should  remove  to  Sierra  Leone.  The  resolution  of  Mr.  Gary  was  notto 
be  shaken:  he  determined  to  stay,  and  his  decision  had  gr%at  effect  in  persuading 
others  to  imitate  his  example.  During  the  war  with  the  native  tribes,  in  No- 
vember and  December  1822,  he  proved  to  be  one  of  the  bravest  of  men,  and  lent 
his  well  directed  and  vigorous  support  to  the  measures  of  Mr.  Ashmun  during 
that  memorable  defence  of  the  Colony.  It  was  to  him,  that  Mr.  Ashmun  was 
principally  indebted  for  assistance  in  rallying  the  broken  forces  of  the  Colony, 
at  a  moment  when  fifteen  hundred  of  the  exasperated  natives  were  rushing  on 
to  exterminate  the  settlement.  In  one  of  his  letters,  he  compares  the  little 
exposed  company  on  Cape  Montserado  at  that  time,  to  the  Jews,  who  in  re- 
building their  City,  "grasped  a  weapon  in  one  hand,  while  they  labored  with 
the  other  :"  but  adds  emphatically,  "  there  never  has  been  an  hour  or  a  minute, 
no,  not  even  when  the  bulls  were  ilyiag  around  my  head,  when  I  could  wish 
myself  again  in  America." 

At  this  early  period  of  the  Colony,  the  emigrants  were  peculiarly  exposed ; 
the  want  of  adequate  medical  attentions,  and  the  scantiness  of  their  supplies, 
subjected  them  to  severe  and  complicated  sufferings.  To  relieve,  if  possible, 
these  sufferings,  Mr.  Gary  availed  himself  of  all  information  in  his  power, 
concerning  the  diseases  of  the  climate,  made  liberal  sacrifices  of  his  property 
to  assist  the  poor  and  distressed,  and  devoted  his  time,  almost  exclusively,  to 
the  destitute,  the  sick  and  the  afflicted. 


15U  APPENDIX. 

In  December,  Ib23,  Mr.  Cary  was  unfortunately  engaged  in  a  transaction, 
which  inllicted  a  deep  wound  upon  his  conscience,  and  which  but  for  his  speedy 
and  sincere  repentance,  might  have  left  a  lasting  stain  upon  his  reputation. 
He  was  one  of  those  who  appeared  at  that  time  to  have  lost  confidence  in  the 
Society,  and  who  ventured  to  throw  off'  those  restraints  of  authority,  which 
though  severe,  were  deemed  absolutely  necessary  for  the  general  safety  of  the 
settlers.  In  the  ninth  chapter  of  the  Memoir  of  Mr.  Ashmun,  we  have  given 
some  account  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  that  spirit  of  insubordination, 
which  finally  resulted  in  an  abduction  by  a  few  individuals,  of  a  portion  of  the 
public  stores,  in  open  violation  of  the  laws.  MrvCary  had  no  small  influence  and 
share  in  this  seditious  proceeding.  But  there  is  reason  to  believe,  that  in  this 
conduct,  prejudice  and  passion  were  permitted  to  usurp  the  place  of  reason, 
rather  than,  that  he  deliberately  sacrificed  his  integrity.  In  communicating 
the  account  of  this  disturbance  to  the  Board,  Mr.  Ashmun  remarks,  "  The 
services  rendered  by  Lott  Cary  in  the  Colony,  who  has  with  very  few,  (and 
those  recent  exceptions,)  done  honor  to  the  selection  of  the  Baptist  Mission- 
ary Society,  under  whose  auspices  he  was  sent  out  to  Africa,  entitle  his 
agency  in  this  affair,  to  the  most  indulgent  construction  which  it  will  bear. 
The  hand  which  records  the  lawless  transaction,  would  long  since  have  been 
cold  in  the  grave,  had  it  not  been  for  the  unwearied  and  painful  attentions  of 
this  individual — rendered  at  all  hours — of  every  description — and  continued 
for  several  months." 

No  sooner  had  Mr.  Ashmun  issued  a  circular  address,  exhibiting  the  nature 
of  the  offence  in  its  true  light,  than  Mr.  Cary  "  came  forward  and  deplored 
the  part  he  had  takeA;  he  felt  that  he  had  inflicted  on  his  character,  useful- 
ness, and  peace,  a  wound  that  could  >not  in  this  world  be  healed,  and  betrayed 
the  great  confidence  reposed  ia  him  by  his  pious  employers  and  patrons  at 
home.  He  acknowledged  frankly,  that  his  influence  had  seduced  others,  and 
seemed  to  view  the  evil  in  all  its  extent.  He  told  the  Agent  it  was  his  wish 
hereafter  to  receive  no  more  supplies  from  the  Colonization  Society,  and  live 
less  enthralled  with  secular  connexions;  but  professed  his  willingness  to* be 
useful  in  the  way  the  Agent  thought  fit  to  propose.  The  latter  then  sug- 
gested to  him  the  care  of  the  liberated  Africans.  To  this  proposition  he  very 
promptly  acceded,  and  it  is  believed,  he  will  discharge  the  trust  with  fidelity 
and  ability."* 

In  the  summer  of  1824,  the  writer  visited  the  Colony,  and  enjoyed,  during 
the  few  days  he  remained  there,  frequent  interviews  with  Mr.  Cary.  He  ap- 
peared to  welcome  the  return  of  Mr.  Ashmun  at  that  time.  He  entered  most 
cordially  into  the  views  of  the  Agents  in  regard  to  the  establishment  of  a  new 
form  of  Government.  He  readily  comprehended  the  principles  upon  which 
it  was  organized,  and  entirely  approved  them.  Seldom  has  the  writer  met 
with  an  individual  of  a  more  active  or  reflecting  mind.  He  appeared  to  re- 

*  Mr.  Ashmun. 


APPENDIX.  151 

alize  the  greatness  of  the  work  in  which  he  had  engaged,  and  to  be  animated 
by  a  noble  spirit  of  zeal  and  resolution  in  the  cause  of  his  afflicted  and  perish- 
ing brethren.  His  services  as  physician  were  invaluable,  and  were  then  and 
for  a  long  time  afterwards,  rendered  without  hope  of  reward. 

The  Managers  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  in  the  autumn  of 
1825,  invited  Mr.  Cary  to  visit  the  United  States,  in  expectation  that  his  in- 
telligent and  candid  statements  concerning  the  condition  and  prospects  of  the 
Colony,  and  the  moral  wants  of  Africa,  would  exert  a  beneficial  influence  on- 
the  opinions  of  the  people  of  color,  as  well  as  recommend  the  cause  of  the 
Society  i;o  the  public  regard.  In  the  month  of  April,  1826,  he  made  arrange- 
ments to  embark  for  the  United  States,  in  the  ship  Indian  Chief,  and  received 
from  Mr.  Ashmun  testimonials  of  his  worth  and  services.  The  following  is 
extracted  from  a  letter  addressed  by  Mr.  Ashmun,  to  the  Managers  of  the 
Colonization  Society : 

"The  Rev.  Lott  Gary,  returning  by  tfie  'Indian  Chief,'  has,  in  my  opinion, 
some  claims  on  the  justice  of  the  Society  or  Government  of  the  United  States, 
or  both,  which  merit  consideration.  These  claims  arise  out  of  a  long  and 
faithful  course  of  medical  services  rendered  to  this  Colony,  (the  only  such 
services  deserving  much  consideration,  if  we  except  those  of  Dr.  Ayres  and 
Dr.  Peaco,  since  the  commencement  of  the  settlement,  in  1820.) 

"  Mr.  Cary,  it  is  well  known,  came  to  this  country  in  the  capacity  of  a^  Mis- 
sionary, from  a  Society  in  Richmond  ;  and  has  ever  since,  I  believe,  been  in 
the  receipt  of  a  considerable  salary  from  the  Society,  appropriated  for  the  ex- 
press and  sole  intention  of  putting  him  in  a  situation  to  devote  his  time  and 
labors  to  the  work  of  the  Sacred  Ministry. 

"  It  is  perhaps  known  to  the  Board,  that  Mr.  Cary  has  declined  serving  in 
any  civil  office,  incompatible  with  a  faithful  discharge  of  his  sacred  functions; 
and  it  may  be  added,  that  although  one  of  the  most  diligent  and  active  of  men, 
he  has  never  had  the  command  of  leisure  or  strength  to  engage  in  any  Mis- 
sionary duties,  besides  the  weekly  and  occasional  services  of  the  congregation. 
More  than  one-half  of  his  time  has  been  given  up  to  the  care  of  our  sick, 
from  the  day  I  landed  in  Africa,  to  the  very  moment  of  stating  the  fact.  He 
has  personally  aided  in  every  way,  that  fidelity  arid  benevolence  could  dictate, 
in  all  the  attentions  which  all  our  sick  have  in  so  long  a  period  received.  His 
want  of  science  acquired  by  the  regular  study  of  Medicine,  he  has  gone  a  long 
way  towards  supplying  by  an  unwearied  diligence  which  few  regular  phy- 
sicians think  it  necessary— fewer  superficial  practitioners,  have  the  motives 
for  exercising. 

"  Several  times  have  these  disinterested  labors  reduced  him  to  the  verge  of 
the  grave.  The  presence  of  other  physicians  has,  instead  of  affording  relief, 
only  redoubled  the  intensity  of  his  labors,  by  charging  the  ordinary  routine  of 
his  attentions  to  the  sick  with  the  exhibition  of  their  own  prescriptions. 

"  Mr.  Cary  has  hitherto  received  no  compensation  either  from  the  Society 
or  the  Government,  for  these  services .  I  need  not  add,  that  it  has  not  been  in 


152  APPENDIX. 

his  power  to  support  himself  and  family  by  any  use  be  could  make  of  the 
remnants  of  his  time  left  him,  after  discharging  the  amount  of  duty  already 
described.  The  Missionary  Board  of  Richmond  have  fed,  clothed  and  supplied 
the  other  wants  of  himself  and  family,  while  devoting  his  strength  and  time 
to  your  sick  colonists,  and  Agents  in  this  country.  Justice  seems  to  demand 
that  he  should  be  placed  in  a  situation  as  an  honest  man,  to  refund  the  whole 
or  apart  of  the  fund  thus  engrossed,  not  to  say  misapplied,  to  the  Missionary 
Board. 

"  I  beg  leave  also  to  state,  that  on  the  15th  of  February,  1826,  I  came  into 
an  agreement  with  Mr.  Gary,  to  allow  him  a  reasonable  compensation  for  his 
medical  services,  devoted  to  the  then  sickening  company  of  Boston  emigrants. 
His  time  has  from  the  date  of  that  agreement,  to  the  present  hour,  been  in- 
cessantly occupied  in  attending  upon  the  sick." 

Until  near  the  time  of  the  Indian  Chief's  departure  from  the  Colony,  Mr. 
Gary  cherished  the  hope  of  embarking  in  her  for  America.  But  as  there  was 
no  other  physician  in  the  Colony,  it  was  finally  thought  best  for  him  to  post- 
pone his  departure  to  another  opportunity.  By  the  return  of  that  vessel  he 
addressed  the  following  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Society  : 

"  Mojirovia,  April  24th,  1826. 

"  REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR  :  I  received  your  letter  sent  to  me  by  the  order  of 
the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  American  Colonization  Society ;  and  I  expected 
until  a  few  days  ago  that  the  return  of  the  Indian  Chief,  would  have 
enabled  me  in  all  respects  to  have  realized  their  wishes— But  on  a  more  minute 
examinati9n  of  the  subject,  Mr.  Ashmun  and  myself  both  were  apprehen- 
sive that  my  leaving  the  Colony  at  present,  would  endanger  the  lives  of  a 
number  of  the  inhabitants;  Mr.  Ashmun,  however,  has  made  a  full  statement  to 
the  Board,  which  I  have  no  doubt  will  be  satisfactory  to  them.  I  think  that 
through  the  blessing  of  the  Almighty,  I  shall  be  able  to  get  the  last  expedi- 
tion through  the  fever  with  very  little  loss  :  we  have  lost  only  three,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Trueman,  from  Baltimore,  and  two  children  belonging  to  the  Paxton 
family.  But  the  emigrants  who  came  out  in  the  Vine,  have  suffered  very  much; 
we  lost  twelve  of  them.  The  action  of  the  disease  was  more  powerful  with 
them  than  is  common — they  unfortunately  arrived  here  in  the  most  siekly 
month  in  the  year,  February.  I  am  strongly  of  the  opinion,  sir,  that  if  the 
people  of  New  England  leave  there  in  the  winter,  that  the  transition  is  so 
great,  that  you  may  count  upon  a  loss  of  half  at  least.  They  may,  in  my  esti- 
mation, with  safety,  leave  in  the  months  from  April  to  November,  and  arrive 
here  in  good  time;  I  think  it  to  be  a  matter  of  great  importance  ;  therefore  I 
hope,  that  you  will  regard  it  as  such. 

"  I  am  respectfully  yours, 

"LOTT  GARY." 

Although  it  was  the  purpose  of  Mr.  Gary  to  devote  himself  to  Missionary  ef- 
forts in  Africa,  yet  the  necessity  for  his  services  in  the  Colony  was  so  great, 
that  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  deny  himself  much  of  the  happiness  which  he  an- 


APPENDIX.  153 

ticipated  from  endearon  to  bring  the  Native  Africans,  to  the  knowledge  and 
worship  of  the  Living  and  True  God.  He  was  elected  in  September,  1826, 
to  the  Vice  Agency  of  the  Colony,  and  discharged  the  duties  of  that  impor- 
tant office  until  his  death.  In  his  good  sense,  moral  worth,  public  spirit, 
courage,  resolution,  and  decision,  the  Colonial  Agent  had  perfect  confidence. 
He  knew,  that  in  times  of  difficulty  or  danger,  reliance  might  be  placed  upon 
the  energy  and  efficiency  of  Mr.  Gary. 

The  following  letter  addressed  to  the  writer  by  Mr.  Gary  in  1827,  is  in  his 
own  hand  writing,  and  is  marked  by  that  simple,  strong  good  sense,  for  which 
be  was  distinguished.  We  give  it  without  the  alteration,  even  of  a  letter. 

"  JUNE  l€th,  1827. 
"  To  the  Rev.  R.  R.  Gurley. 

"  R«v.  AND  DEAR  SIR,  I  transmit  to  you  a  few  lines,  which  I  trust  may  find 
you  well.  The  last  emigrants  that  you  sent  out,  Las  fared  remarkably  well,  as 
it  respects  the  disease;  we  have  only  lost  two  children.  We  have  several  cases  of 
bad  ulcers;  and  from  seeing  advertised  in  the  Compiler  of  Richmond,  a  medicine 
called  Swaim's  Panacea,  said  to  be  a  sure  cure  for  ulcers;  please  try  if  possi- 
ble to  procure  some,  and  send  out,  for  we  should  have  a  very  healthy  inhabit- 
ants and  present,  but  for  the  prevalence  of  that  uncontrolable  disease.  We 
are  also  in  want  of  Salts,  Castor-oil,  Cream  of  Tartar,  mignesea,  and  Mustard, 
as  much  as  you  can  send  well  put  up.  I  am  greatly  in  hopes  to  be  over  the 
next  spring,  and  try  to  wake  up  my  colored  friends  in  Virginia.  We  have  a 
plan  in  contemplation  which  if  accomplished  will,  I  think  insure  my  making 
one  vissit  to  America,  that  is,  to  purchase,  or  aid  in  the  purchase  of  a  vessel 
to  run  constantly  from  this,  to  America,  to  bring  out  our  own  supplies,  emi- 
grants, 8cc.  I  hope  sir,  when  such  an  attempt  is  mad«  you  will  facilitate  it  all 
that  you  can. 

"  I  think  that  you  would  be  pleased  with  the  improvements  that  we  have 
made  since  you  left  if  you  were  to  make  another  vissit  to  this  country — both 
our  civil  and  religious  state  I  think  has  improved  very  much.  No  more  but 
wishing  that  the  blessing  of  the  Lord  may  attend  you,  both  in  your  public  and 
private  life,  and  the  Board  of  Managers,  in  all  their  administrations. 

"  Yours,  &c.  "LOTT  CARY." 

When  compelled  in  the  early  part  of  1828  to  leave  the  Colony,  Mr.  Ashmun 
committed  the  administration  of  the  Colonial  affairs  into  the  hands  of  the  Vice 
Agent,  in  the  full  belief,  that  no  interests  would  be  betrayed,  but  that  his  ef- 
forts would  be  constantly  and  anxiously  directed  to  the  promotion  of  the  pub- 
lic good.  The  following  extracts  are  from  the  Journal  of  Mr.  Cary,  after  the 
departure  of  Mr.  Ashmun: 

"  The  Colonial  Agent,  J.  Ashmun,  Esq.,  went  on  board  the  brig  Doris, 
March  26th,  1828,  escorted  by  three  companies  of  the  military,  and  when  tak- 
ing leave  he  delivered  a  short  address,  which  was  truly  affecting ;  never,  I  sup- 
pose, were  greater  tokens  of  respect  showo  by  any  community  on  taking  leave 

V 


154  APPENDIX. 

of  their  head.  Nearly  the  whole  (at  least  two-thirds)  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Monrovia,  men,  women,  and  children,  were  out  on  this  occasion,  and  nearly 
all  parted  from  him  with  tears,  and  in  my  opinion,  the  hope  of  his  return  in  a 
few  months,  alone  enabled  them  to  give  him  up.  He  is  indeed  dear  to  this 
people,  and  it  will  be  a  joyful  day  when  we  are  again  permitted  to  see  him.  He 
has  left  a  written  address,  which  contains  valuable  admonitions  to  Officers, 
Civil,  Military,  and  Religious.  The  Brig  sailed  on  the  27th.  May  she  have  a 
prosperous  voyage. 

"THURSDAY,  MARCH  27. 

"Feeling  very  sensibly  my  incompetency  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  my  of- 
fice, without  first  making  all  the  Officers  of  the  Colony  well  acquainted  with 
the  principal  objects  which  should  engage  our  attention,  I  invited  them  to  meet 
at  the  Agency  House  on  the  27th,  at  9  o'clock,  which  was  punctually  attended 
to ;  and  I  then  read  all  the  instructions  left  by  Mr.  Aahiaun  without  reserve, 
and  requested  their  co-operation.  I  stated  that  it  would  be  our  first  object  to 
put  the  Jail  in  complete  order,  secondly  to  have  our  guns  and  armaments  in  a 
proper  state,  and  thirdly  to  get  the  new  settlers  located  on  their  lands;  as  this 
was  a  very  important  item  in  my  instructions.  This  explanation  will,  I  think, 
Lave  a  good  effect ;  as  by  it  the  effective  part  of  the  Colony  is  put  in  posses- 
sion of  the  most  important  objects  of  our  present  pursuit ;  and  I  trust  through 
the  blessing  of  the  great  Ruler  of  events,  we  shall  be  able  to  realize  all  the  ex- 
pectations of  Mr.  Ashrnun,  and  render  entire  satisfaction  to  the  Board  of  Mana- 
gers, if  they  can  reconcile  themselves  to  the  necessary  expenses. 

"  MARCH  29. 

"  From  a  note  received  from  Mr.  James,  dated  Millsburg:,  Ilparn  that  he  vis- 
ited King  Boatswain,  and  that  the  new  *oad  irom  Boatswain's  to  Millsburg  will 
shortly  be  commenced. — The  Headmen  expect,  however,  to  be  paid  for  open- 
ing the  road.  Messrs.  James  and  Cook,  who  came  down  this  evening,  state, 
that  the  Millsburg  Factory  will  be  ready  in  a  few  days  for  the  reception  of 
goods,  and  wished  consignments  might  be  made  early.  But  as  I  had  been  on 
the  27th  paying  off  the  kings  towards  the  Millsburg  lands,  and  found  that  one 
hundred  and  twenty  bars  came  so  far  short  of  satisfying  them,  I  thought  best 
to  see  them  together  before  I  should  attempt  to  make  any  consignments  to  that 
place. 

[The  following  is  a  copy  of  a  deed  between  Lott  Gary,  acting  in  behalf  of 
the  American  Colonization  Society,  on  the  one  part;  and  the  after  mentioned 
Kings,  of  the  other  part.] 

"  KNOW  all  men  by  these  presents :  That  we,  Old  King  Peter,  and  King 
Governor,  King  James,  and  King  Long  Peter,  do  on  this  fourth  day  of  April,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-eight,  grant  unto 
Lott  Gary,  acting  Agent  of  the  Colony  of  Liberia,  in  behalf  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society,  to  wit : 
"  All  that  tract  of  Land  on  the  north  side  of  St.  Paul's  river,  beginning  at 


APPENDIX.  155 

king  Jamea'  line  below  the  establishment  called  Millsburg  Settlement,  and  we 
the  Kings  as  aforesaid  do  bargain,  sell,  and  grant,  unto  the  said  Lott  Gary,  act- 
ing in  behalf  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  all  the  aforesaid  tract  of 
Land,  situated  and  bounded  as  follows:  by  the  St.  Paul's  river  on  the  South, 
and  thence  running  an  East  Northeast  direction  up  the  St.  Paul's  river,  as  far 
as  he,  the  said  Lott  Cary,  or  his  successor  in  the  Agency,  or  Civil  Authority 
of  the  Colony  of  Liberia,  shall  think  proper  to  take  up  and  occupy ;  and  bound- 
ed on  the  West  by  King  Jimmey's,  and  running  thence  a  North  direction  as 
far  as  our  power  and  influence  extend.  We  do  on  this  day  and  date,  grant  as 
aforesaid  for  the  consideration  [here  follow  the  articles  to  be  given  inpayment]; 
and  will  forever  defend  the  same  against  all  claims  whatsoever. 
"  In  witness  whereof  we  set  our  hands  and  names : 

OLD  X  KING  PETER, 
LONG  X  KING  PETER, 
KING  X!  GOVERNOR, 
•  KING  X  JAMES. 
*'  Signed  in  the  presence  of, 

ELIJAH  JOHNSON, 
FREDERICK  JAMES, 
DANIEL  GEORGE." 

"  JUNE  IS,  1828. 

"  I  found  it  necessary,  in  order  to  preserve  the  frame  of  the  second  floors  of 
the  Government  House,  to  have  the  frame  and  ceiling  painted,  which  is  now 
doing.  I  have  also  been  obliged  to  employ  another  workman  to  make  the  blinds, 

or  else  k>ow41»e  iuuise  exposed  the  present  season,  as  refused  to  do  it 

under  the  former  contract.  On  the  13th  I  visited  Millsburg,*  t»  siscertain  the 
prospects  of  that  settlement ;  and  can  say  with  propriety,  that  according  to  the 
quantity  of  land  which  the  settlers  have  put  under  cultivation,  they  will  reap 
a  good  and  plentiful  crop.  The  Company's  crop  of  rice  and  cassada  is  espe- 
cially promising.  The  new  settlers  at  that  place  have  done  well ;  having  all, 
with  two  or  three  exceptions,  built  houses,  so  as  to  render  their  families  com- 
fortable during  the  season.  They  have  also  each  of  them  a  small  farm,  which 
I  think  after  a  few  months  will  be  sufficient  to  subsist  them.  But  I  find  from 
a  particular  examination,  that  we  shall  be  obliged  to  allow  them  to  draw  ra- 
tions longer  than  I  expected,  owing  to  the  great  scarcity  of  country  produce, 
the  cassada  being  so  nearly  exhausted,  that  it  is,  and  will  be,  impossible  to  oo- 
tain,  until  new  crops  come  in,  much  to  aid  our  provisions,  unless  by  going 
some  distance  into  the  country.  Therefore  I  think  it  indispensably  necessary, 
in  order  to  keep  the  settlers  to  their  farming  improvements,  to  continue  their 
rations  longer  than  I  at  first  intended  ;  as  I  consider  the  present  too  important 
*  crisis  to  leave  them  to  neglect  their  improvements,  although  it  may  add  some- 
thing to  our  present  expenses. 

''The  people  at  Caldwell  are  getting  on  better  with  their  farms  thta  with 

•Mills  &  Burgeii. 


156  APPENDIX. 

their  houaea.  I  think  tome  of  them  are  very  slow,  notwithstanding  I  h»te  as- 
sisted tham  in  building.  The  Gun  House  at  Caldwell  is  done,  and  at  present 
preparations  are  making  for  the  fourth  of  July.  I  think  that  settlement  gener- 
ally, is  rapidly  advancing  in  farming,  building,  and  I  hope,  in  industry.  Our 
gun  carriages  are  done ;  the  completion  of  the  iron  work  alone  prevents  us 
from  mounting  them  all  immediately.  We  have  four  mounted,  and  I  think  we 
shall  put  them  all  in  complete  order  by  the  end  of  the  present  week. 

"  Captain  Russel  will  be  able  to  give  something  like  a  fair  account  of  the 
state  of  our  improvements,  as  he  went  with  me  to  visit  the  settlements  on  the 
13th  and  14th,  and  seemed  pleased  with  the  prospect  atMillsburg,  Caldwell  and 
the  Half-way  Farms. 

"Mr.  Warner,  who  has  been  engaged  nearly  the  whole  of  the  last  twelve 
months  on  business  of  negotiating  with  the  native  tribes  to  the  leeward,  is  at 
present  down  at  Tippicance,  the  place  which  I  mentioned  in  my  former  com- 
munications, as  being  a  very  important  section  of  country,  since  it  would  con- 
Beet  our  Sesters  and  Bassa  dia^blbts  together.  He  is  not  however,  now  engag- 
ed in  business  of  negotiation,  but  only  in  business  of  trade. " 

In  his  letter  to  the  lamented  Mr.  Ashmun,  Mr.  Cary  states — 

"Things  are  nearly  as  you  left  them ;  most  of  the  work  that  you  directed 
to  be  done,  is  nearly  accomplished.  The  plasterers  are  now  at  work  on  the 
Government  House,  and  with  what  lime  I  am  having  brought  down  the  river, 
and  what  shells  I  am  getting,  I  think  we  shall  succeed. 

"  The  Gun  House  in  Monrovia  and  the  Jail  have  been  done  for  some  weeks ; 
the  mounting  of  the  guns  will  be  done  this  week,  if  the  weather  permits. 

"  The  Houses  at  the  Half-WaV  Farm*  ««>  dnnp  •    tho  fiun  Houoc  at  Caldwell 

would  havp  been  done  at  this  time,  had  not  the  rain  prevented,  but  I  think  it 
will  be  finished  in  three  or  four  days.  The  public  farm  is  doing  pretty  well. 
The  Millsburg  farms  are  doing  very  well.  I  think  it  wcttkl  do  you  good  to  see 
that  place  at  this  time. 

"  The  Missionaries,  although  they  have  been  sick,  are  now,  I  am  happy  to 
inform  you,  recovered ;  and  at  present  are  able  to  attend  to  their  business,  and 
I  regard  them  as  entirely  out  of  danger. 

"  I  hope  we  shall  be  able  to  remove  all  the  furniture  into  the  new  house  in 
two  or  three  weeks." 

June  25th,  Mr.  Gary  writes — 

"About  three  o'clock  to-day,  there  appeared  three  vessels— two  brigs  and  a 
schooner.  The  schooner  stood  into  the  Roads,  and  one  of  the  brigs  near  in, 
but  showed  no  colours  until  a  shot  was  fired  by  Captain  Thompson  ;  when 
she  hoisted  Spanish  colours,  and  the  schooner  the  same.  All  their  movements 
appeared  so  suspicious,  that  we  turned  out  all  our  forces  to-night. — About  eight 
this  evening  it  was  reported  that  they  were  standing  out  of  our  Roads ;  and  at 
sunset,  that  the  schooner  had  come  to  anchor  very  near  the  "  All  Chance," 
froia  j  . .  the  brig  whi"b  had  passed  the  Cape,  had  put  about  and 

was  standing  up,  trying  to  double  the  Cape  ;   and  that  the  third  vessel  (a  brig) 
was  standing  down  for  the  Roads.    The  first  mentioned  brig  showed  nine 


APPENDIX.  157 

pert*  *  »id«.  Prom  til  the«e  circumstances  I  thought  best  to  have  Fort  Norrii 
Battery  manned,  which  was  immediately  done  by  Captain  Johnson.  I  also 
ordered  out  the  two  volunteer  companies  to  make  discoveries  around  the  town, 
and  the  Artillery  to  support  the  guns,  and  protect  the  beach  ;  which  orders 
were  promptly  executed,  and  we  stood  in  readiness  during  the  night.  At  day- 
light the  schooner  lay  at  anchor  and  appeared  to  be  making  no  preparations  to 
communicate  with  us ;  I  then  ordered  a  shot  to  be  fired  at  a  little  distance 
from  her,  when  she  sent  a  boat  ashore  with  her  Captain,  Supercargo,  and  In- 
terpreter. She  reported  herself  the  Joseph,  from  Havana,  had  been  three 
months  on  the  coast  trading,  but  not  for  slaves,  had  one  gun,  and  twenty-three 
men.  Also,  that  the  brig  was  a  patriotic  brig  in  chase  of  her,  and-that  through 
fear  she  had  taken  shelter  under  our  guns.  The  Captain  wished  a  supply  of 
wood  and  water ;  but  I  told  him  I  knew  him  to  be  engaged  in  the  slave  trade, 
and  that,  though  we  did  not  pretend  to  attempt  suppressing  this  trade,  we 
would  not  aid  it,  and  that  I  allowed  him  one  hour,  and  one  only,  to  get  out  of 
the  reach  of  our  guns.  He  was  very  punctual,  and  I  believe  before  his  hour." 

Speaking  of  the  celebration  of  the  Fourth  of  July  in  the  Colony,  under  date 
of  the  15th  July,  Mr.  Cary  remarks — 

"The  companies  observed  strictly  the  orders  of  the  day,  which  I  think  were 
so  arranged  as  to  entitle  the  officers  who  drew  them  up  to  credit.  Upon  the 
whole,  I  am  obliged  to  say,  that  I  have  never  seen  the  American  Independence 
celebrated  with  so  much  spirit  and  propriety  since  the  existence  of  the  Colony; 
the  guns  being  all  mounted  and  painted,  and  previously  arranged  for  the  pur- 
pose, added  very  much  to  the  grand  salute.  Two  dinners  were  given,  one  by 
the  independent  Voiuntcci  Ocrmj/aii^oiwi  •&**+.  ty  Gajitain  Devany." 

To  the  Secretary  of  the  Society,  July  19th,  Mr.  Cary  wn^es^^ 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter,  forwarded 
by  Captain  Chase  of  Providence,  also  your  Report  and  Repository,  directed 
to  Mr.  Ashmun,  but  owing  to  his  absence,  they  have  fallen  into  my  hands  ; 
and  permit  me  to  say,  that  these  communications  are  read  with  pleasure,  and 
that  nothing  affords  more  joy  to  the  Colony,  than  to  hear  of  the  prosperity  of 
the  Colonization  Society,  and  that  you  have  some  hopes  of  aid  from  the  Gen- 
eral Government,  which  makes  us  more  desirous  to  enlarge  our  habitation  and 
extend  the  borders  of  the  Colony. 

"  I  must  say,  from  the  flattering  prospects  of  your  Society,  I  feel  myself 
very  much  at  a  loss  how  to  proceed,  in  the  absence  of  Mr.  Ashmun,  with  re- 
gard to  making  provisions  for  the  reception  of  a  large  number  of  emigrants, 
which  appears  to  be  indispensably  necessary.  Therefore,  after  receiving  your 
communication,  we  conceived  the  following  to  be  the  most  safe  and  prudent 
course.  Ftrtty  to  make  arrangements  to  have  erected  at  Millsburg,  houses  to 
answer  as  receptacles  sufficient  to  shelter  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred  persons.  I  have  therefore  extended  the  duties  of  Mr.  Benson  so  as 
to  embrace  that  object.  I  was  led  to  this  course  from  the  following  considera- 
tions. ISrii,  from  the  productiveness  of  the  Millsburg  lindi  aid  tfce 


]ftft  APPENDIX. 

of  their  inhabitants.  I  knovr  if  Mr.  Ashmun  were  present,  it  would  be  a 
principal  object  with  him  to  push  that  settlement  forward  with  ail  possible 
speed,  and  that  for  this  purpose,  he  would  send  the  emigrants  by  the  first  two 
or  three  expeditions  to  that  place.  I  think  that  those  from  the  fresh  water 
rivers,  if  carried  directly  after  their  arrival  here,  up  to  Mill.sburg,  would  suf- 
fer very  little  from  change  of  climate.  Second,  the  fertility  of  the  land  is  such 
a  temptation  to  the  farmer,  that  unless  he  possesses  laziness  in  its  extreme  de- 
gree, he  cannot  resist  it ;  he  must  and  will  go  to  work.  Thirdly,  it  is  import- 
ant to  strengthen  that  settlement  against  any  possible  attack  ;  and  though  we 
apprehend  no  hostilities  from  the  natives,  yet  we  would  have  each  settlement 
strong  enough  to  repel  them. 

"I  am  happy  to  say,  that  the  health,  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  Colony,  I 
think,  is  still  advancing,  and  I  hope  that  the  Board  of  Managers  may  have 
their  wishes  and  expectations  realized  to  their  fullest  extent,  with  regard  to 
the  present  and  future  prosperity  of  the  Colony." 

July  17. — "  If  I  could  be  allowed  one  suggestion  to  the  Board  of  Managers, 
I  would  mention  the  importance  of  having  here  for  the  use  of  the  Colony,  a 
vessel  large  enough  to  run  down  as  low  as  Cape  Palmas.  It  would,  I  think, 
be  found  to  save  a  very  great  expense  to  the  Society.  She  might  occasionally 
run  up  also  to  Sierra  Leone. 

"  Until  we  can  raise  crops  sufficient  to  supply  a  considerable  number  of 
new  comers  every  year,  such  an  arrangement  as  will  enable  us  to  proceed 
farther  to  the  leward  than  we  have  ever  done,  in  order  to  procure  supplies, 
will  be  indispensably  necessary  ;  as  there  we  can  procure  Indian  Corn,  Palm 
Oil,  and  live  stock.  T?™  *hc=>c,  ^dOiei  iiie  slave  traders  nor  others,  give 
themselves  much.  Corn  can  be  bought  there  for  from  fifteen  to  twenty  cents 
per  bushel.  Fifteen  or  twenty  bushels  which  I  bought  of  Captain  Woodbury, 
I  have  been  using  instead  of  rice  for  the  last  two  months.  Besides,  it  can  be 
ground  into  meal,  and  would  be  better  than  any  that  can  be  sent.  Upon  the 
supposed  inquiry,  will  not  the  lands  of  the  Colony  produce  Corn  ?  they  will 
produce  it  in  abundance  ;  but  with  the  quantity  of  lands  appropriated  at  pre- 
sent, and  the  means  to  cultivate  them,  each  land-holder  will,  I  think,  be  able 
to  raise  but  little  more  than  may  be  required  by  his  own  family,  and  conse 
quently  will  have  little  to  dispose  of  to  new  comers.* 

"  Permit  me  to  inform  the  Board,  that  proposals  have  been  made  by  a  num- 
ber of  very  respectable  citizens  in  Monrovia,  to  commence  a  settlement  near 
the  head  of  the  Montserado  River,  which  would  be  a  kind  of  farming  esrablish- 
ment ;  which,  should  it  be  the  pleasure  of  the  Board  to  approve,  would  be 
followed  up  with  great  spirit,  and  found  to  contribute  largely  towards  in- 
creasing our  crops,  for  the  soil  is  veiy  promising." 

But  amid  his  multiplied  cares  and  efforts  for  the  Colony,  he  never  forgot  or 

*  It  has  been  resolved  by  the  Board  of  Managers  to  increase  the  quantity  of 
land  allotted  to  each  eettler. 


APPENDIX.  159 

neglected  to  promote  the  objects  of  the  African  Missionary  Society,  for  which 
he  had  long  cherished  the  strongest  attachment.  His  great  object  in  emigra- 
ting to  Africa,  was  to  extend  the  power  and  blessings  of  the  Christian  Religion. 
Before  his  departure  from  Richmond,  a  little  Church  of  about  half  a  dozen 
members  was  formed  by  himself,  and  those  who  were  to  accompany  him.  He 
became  the  Pastor  of  this  Church  in  Africa,  and  saw  its  numbers  greatly  in- 
creased. Most  earnestly  did  he  seek  access  to  the  Native  Tribes,  and  endeavor 
to  instruct  them  in  the  doctrines  and  duties  of  that  religion,  which  in  his  own 
case,  had  proved  so  powerful  to  purify,  exalt  and  save.  In  one  or  two  in- 
stances of  hopeful  conversion  from  heathenism,  he  greatly  rejoiced  ;  and  many 
of  his  latest  and  most  anxious  thoughts  were  directed  to  the  establishment  of 
native  schools  in  the  interior.  One  such  school,  distant  seventy  miles  from  Mon- 
rovia, and  of  great  promise,  was  established  through  his  Agency,  about  a  year 
before  his  death,  and  patronized  and  superintended  by  him  until  that  mournful 
event.  On  this  subject,  by  his  many  valuable  communications  to  the  Mis- 
sionary Board,  "  he  being  dead  yet  speaketh"  in  language  which  must  affect 
the  heart  of  every  true  Christian  disciple. 

Mr.  Cary  was  thrice  married  ;  about  the  year  1813,  his  first  wife  died,  and 
soon  afterwards  he  bought  himself  and  two  little  children  for  $850.*  He  lost 
his  second  wife  shortly  after  his1  arrival  in  Africa,  at  Fourah  Bay,  near 
Sierra  Leone.  Of  her  triumphant  death,  he  gives  a  touching  account  in 
his  journal.  His  third  wife  died  before  him  at  Cape  Montserado. 

For  six  months  after  the  first  departure  of  Mr.  Ashmun,  from  the  Colony, 
Mr.  Gary  stood  at  its  bead,  and  conducted  himself  with  such  energy  and  wis- 
dom as  to  do  honor  to  his  previous  reputation,  amf  Tnntrc  srxd  upon  his  envia- 
ble fame. 

On  his  death  bed,  Mr,  Ashmun  urged  that  Mr.  Cary  should  be  permanently 
appointed  to  conduct  the  affairs  of  the  Colony,  expressing  perfect  confidence 
in  his  integrity  and  ability  for  that  great  work.  But,  alas  !  he  was  suddenly 
and  unexpectedly,  and  in  a  distressing  manner,  forced  from  life  in  all  its  vigor, 
into  the  presence  of  his  final  Judge. 

*  The  manner  in  which  he  obtained  this  Sum  of  money  to  purchase  himself 
and  children,  reflects  much  credit  on  his  character.  It  will  be  seen  from  the 
salary  he  received  after  he  was  free,  and  which  he  relinquished  for  the  sake  of 
doing  good  in  Africa,  that  his  services  at  the  warehouse  were  highly  estimated, 
but  of  their  real  value  no  one  except  a  dealer  in  tobacco  can  form  an  idea. 
Notwithstanding  the  hundreds  of  hogsheads  that  were  committed  to  his  charge, 
he  could  produce  any  one  the  instant  it  was  called  for ;  and  the  shipments 
were  made  with  a  promptness,  and  correctness,  such  as  no  person,  white  or 
black,  has  equalled  in  the  same  situation.  For  this  correctness  and  fidelity,  he 
was  highly  esteemed,  and  frequently  rewarded  by  the  merchant  with  a  five 
dollar  note.  He  was  allowed  also  to  sell  for  his  own  benefit,  many  small  par- 
cels of  waste  tobacco.  It  was  by  saving  the  little  sums  obtained  'in  this  way, 
with  the  aid  of  a  subscription  by  the  merchants  to  whoee  interests  he  had 
been  attentive,  that  he  procured  this  $850,  which  he  paid  for  the  freedom  of 
himself  and  children.  When  the  Colonists  were  fitted  out  for  Africa,  he  de- 
frayed a  considerable  part  of  his  own  expense. 


160  APPENDIX. 

The  circumstances  of  this  melancholy  event  were  tiute.  The  Ttctaiy  be- 
longing to  the  Colony  at  Digby,  (a  few  miles  North  of  Monrovia,)  had  been 
robbed  by  the  natives;  and  satisfaction  being  demanded,  was  refused.  A  slave 
trader  was  allowed  to  land  bis  goods  in  the  very  house  where  the  goods  of  the 
Colony  had  been  deposited,  and  a  letter  of  remonstrance  and  warning  directed 
to  the  slave  dealer,  by  Mr.  Cary,  was  actually  intercepted  and  destroyed  by 
the  natives.  In  this  state  of  affairs,  Mr.  Gary  considered  himself  solemnly 
bound  to  assert  the  rights  and  defend  the  property  of  the  Colony.  He  there- 
fore called  out  instantly,  the  military  of  the  settlements,  and  commenced 
making  arrangements  to  compel  the  natives  to  desist  from  their  injurious  and 
unprovoked  infringements  upon  the  territory  and  rights  of  the  Colony.  On 
the  evening  of  the  8th  of  November,  while  Mr.  Gary  and  several  others  were 
engaged  in  making  cartridges  in  the  old  Agency  house,  a  candle  appears  to 
have  been  accidentally  upset,  which  caught  some  loose  powder  and  almost  in- 
stantaneously reached  the  entire  ammunition,  producing  an  explosion,  which 
resulted  in  the  death  of  eight  persons.  Six  of  the  unfortunate  sufferers  sur- 
vived until  the  9th,  and  Mr.  Cary  and  one  other,  until  the  10th.  The  house, 
(which  was,  however,  of  little  value,)  was  entirely  destroyed. 

The  tidings  of  Mr.  Ashmun's  death  had  not  reached  the  Colony  until  after 
the  decease  of  Mr.  Gary.  How  unexpected,  how  interesting,  how  affecting 
the  meeting  of  these  two  individuals,  (*o  long  united  in  Christian  fellowship, 
in  benevolent  and  arduous  labors,)  in  the  world  of  glory  and  immortality ! 

It  has  been  well  said  of  Mr.  Gary,  that  "  he  was  one  of  nature's  noble- 
men ;"  had  he  possessed  the  advantages  of  education,  few  men  of  his  age 
would  havp  excelled  nim  in  knowledge  or  genius. 

The  features  and  complexion  of  Mr.  Cary  were  altogether  African.  He 
was  diffident,  and  showed  no  disposition  to  push  himself  into  notice.  His 
words  were  few,  simple,  direct,  and  appropriate.  His  conversation  indicated 
rapidity  and  clearness  of  thought,  and  an  ability  to  comprehend  the  great 
and  variously-related  principles  of  Religion  and  Government, 

To  found  a  Christian  Colony  which  might  prove  a  blessed  asylum  to  his  de- 
graded brethren  in  America,  and  enlighten  and  regenerate  Africa,  was,  in  his 
view,  an  object  with  which  no  temporal  good,  not  even  life  could  be  compared. 
The  strongest  sympathies  of  his  nature  were  excited  in  behalf  of  his  unfortu- 
nate people,  and  the  Divine  promise  cheered  and  encouraged  him  in  bis 
labors  for  their  improvement  and  salvation.  A  main  pillar  in  the  Society  and 
Church  of  Liberia  has  fallen  !  But  we  will  not  despond.  The  memorial  of  las 
worth  shall  never  perish.  It  shall  stand  in  clearer  light,  when  every  chain  i» 
broken,  and  Christianity  aball  have  assumed  her  sway  over  the  million*  of 
Africa. 


THE  Elfl). 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED! 

LOAN  DEPT. 

RENEWALS  ONLY— TEL.  NO.  642-3405 
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